Ten Tailed Strawhat
by Sharkteeth
Summary: This is a series of one or more-shots based on my own challenge. What if Luffy ate a mythical Zoan fruit instead of the Gum-Gum fruit, but these MZ are special. They contain the power of the tailed beasts. Starts with Ichi and ends with Juu.
1. Ichibi, Bloody Sands

**A/N:Authors Note: This is a redo of the first chapter. **

**Now more awesome thanks to my new beta Chash123**

"Hey Sanji I want some meat" someone talking

'_No way ramen is better' _someone thinking

"Shut up both of you SHANNARO" Techniques

"**Why am I stuck with these mortals"** demons talking

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Ichibi, Bloody Sands.<strong>

* * *

><p>XXXXXXXXXX<p>

The Sandora Desert was a desert that stretched over most of the Alabasta Kingdom, which was located on Sandy Island in the middle of the Paradise Grand Line. This desert was very old, ancient really, but no one knew exactly how old it really was. The only clues to the desert's true age were the many ruins that were scattered throughout the desert.

What people did know was that the Sandora Desert had sand dunes that could pile up to 300m if placed on hard ground. People knew that this was the place was where the Sandora Lizards, Kung-Fu Dugongs, Erimaki Runners, Spot-Billed Duck, and Warusagi Birds lived. This was also the place where a plant called the coveted Mescal Cactus grew.

Most people have tended to stay away from the Alabasta Kingdom in recent years, as the Sandora Desert has made it one of the most dangerous places in the Grand Line. If someone that didn't know how to cross this desert, or didn't have someone with him/her that did know with them, then they would surely die from the many dangers that were indigenous to it.

However, the Sandora Desert wasn't the only factor that played into this. There was another reason why people stayed away from the Alabasta Kingdom, one that was not indigenous to the desert.

Baroque Works was the main reason people stayed away from the desert kingdom. It was a criminal organization, of unknown strength and numbers, which had essentially taken over the country before Alabasta's King could react and form a counter plan.

The man known as Sir Crocodile had created Baroque Works to fulfill his own insane goals. After the man had "left" the Shichibukai, he had traveled around the Grand Line looking for the perfect island to make his own; eventually he set his sights on Alabasta.

He initially gathered over 20 people, the majority of them having eaten Devil-Fruits, and made them the commanders of Baroque Works. Crocodile himself had allowed his minions to go forth and gather other criminals, and once he had enough men, they began their subtle take-over of Alabasta.

With the power of his Devil-Fruit, the Suna-Suna Fruit, and the vast resources of his criminal organization, he planned to overthrow Alabasta's government and royal family. He would then remake Alabasta into his own personal kingdom, and kill anyone that would dare to defy him.

This was his plan until a certain, unusual band of Pirates came the shores of Alabasta, with the princess of Alabasta under their protection. Crocodile had sent his commanders out to eliminate the princess, as she could prove troublesome to his plans, but miraculously his commanders were defeated one after another by the pirates protecting her.

Who were these "Red Sand" Pirates, and why were they protecting the princess?

XXXXXX

-Sandy Island: The Sandora Desert-

Sir Crocodile had never been angrier at a single person in his entire life. All of his carefully-laid plans were unraveling before his very eyes, and it was all because some no-named, snot-nosed band of Pirates decided to help a princess with a sob story.

Why couldn't they have just left the Princess alone? Why couldn't they have just left her at Cactus Island, and allowe the Princess to go off by herself, so Baroque Works could eliminate her?

_'After I get rid of their captain, I'll go after the rest of these "Red Sand" Pirates. It shouldn't be too hard, since I possess the powers of the Suna-Suna Fruit.' _Crocodile thought as he looked at his opponent, the Captain of the "Reddened Sand" Pirates.

The Pirate Captain was wearing full-length dark trousers, a long-sleeved shirt, and a sand-colored gourd that was attached to his body with a couple of buckles. He was also wearing a straw-hat on his head, and a small pouch strapped to his hip.

This was Monkey D. Luffy, Captain of the "Red Sand Pirates". He was also known as "Straw-Hat" Luffy, and "Luffy of the Bloody Sands", for reasons that were currently unknown to Crocodile.

Luffy was currently standing in an almost relaxed stance, with his arms crossed in front of him, glaring at Crocodile. His eyes were a pale, sea-foam green that were encircled by black rings. Oddly enough, this seemed to make him look like a raccoon.

"I must admit, "Bloody Sands", you are quite the nuisance for someone of your age." Sir Crocodile admitted with a sneer.

"I do not care what your opinion of me is." Luffy stated in a flat, monotone voice. "All that matters is that I defeat you, here and now."

That statement sent Sir Crocodile off the deep end. How dare that no-named, snot-nosed boy think that he could defeat him, a former member of the Shichibukai? It was inconceivable!

"How dare you… you arrogant little GNAT!" Crocodile shouted, his face twisting with rage. "Do you have any conceivable idea of WHOM you're talking to? I am SIR CROCODILE, a former member of the SHICHIBUKAI! YOU are NOTHING BUT A CHILD TRYING TO PLAY IN THE BIG LEAGUES! Desert Spāda (Treasured Sword of the Desert)!"

Sir Crocodile's right hand transformed from flesh and bones, into a loose blade of sand. He then stabbed his former hand into the sand around him, extending it along the ground like a torpedo fired from a submarine.

The attack left a gouge in its wake as it made its way to cleave the straw hat captain in two.

Just as Sir Crocodile's attack was about to hit Luffy, the Pirate Captain finally decided to move. In a blur of motion he swung his right hand at the incoming attack, causing it to disperse into millions of harmless sand particles.

This sight caused Crocodile's eyes to further narrow into slits. In his rage-filled mind, he didn't consider that his next action would be completely pointless. He didn't realize that he should've used his attacks to probe his opponent's power, to see what he could do, before he decided what his next attack should be.

"You… INSIGNIFICANT GNAT! Deseret la Spada (Adamant Treasured Sword of the Desert)!" Crocodile roared, just as both of his arms transformed into clouds of sand.

With the sand that was swirling around him, Crocodile formed numerous solid fan-like blades that flew through the air and through the earth. The blades cut numerous paths in the earth and scattered the desert sand as they traveled towards Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy waved his left hand at the incoming blades of sand, causing them to dissipate into millions of sand particles. However, he wasn't prepared for the sand to reform into Crocodile's upper body and for him to thrust his hook at the surprised Luffy.

A booming "clang" was heard as Crocodile's hook ricocheted off a wall of hardened sand that had suddenly risen from the desert itself to protect Luffy. But, even as Crocodile recoiled from the failed attack, the sand around Luffy erupted into numerous swords that were ready to rend him to pieces.

Each sword was blocked mere inches from Luffy's skin by a protective dome of sand. The dome then preceded bulge as spikes erupted from the dome, forcing Crocodile to leap back; as he did not know whether or not other sand attacks would hurt him. Part of the sand dome dissolved back into sand revealing Luffy's frigid gaze to the world. Without warning the sand around Crocodile's feet rose up, engulfing the former Shichibukai in a sand coffin.

Quickly dissolving himself into sand Crocodile escaped the sand coffin before it had the chance to crush him. The sand that was Crocodile started swirling around the dissolving dome of sand gaining more and more speed as sand from the desert joined the swirling sand. After a moment Luffy found himself in the eye of a colossal sand storm, as soon as the last bit of the dome fell, Crocodile's voice was heard from all around him.

"Now Bloody Sands this is the end of you, Sabaku Shippu Spada (Desert Storm Blade)"

The sand in the storm merged into countless blades that all drew closer to the still stoic Luffy. As the blades drew closer to Luffy his expression did not change once as he whispered under his breath,

"Te No Shakaku (Hand of Shakaku)."

Millions of clawed hands shot from the desert floor, each grabbing onto one of the countless blades and crushing them in their grasp. Crocodile reformed thirty feet from Luffy, a stunned expression was on his face.

"This isn't possible. JUST WHAT ARE YOU?"

Luffy slowly developed a smirk on his face as he finally decided to acknowledge the screaming Shichibukai. "I am a being that is far above you and you're so called power" Luffy said, lifting his arms to the desert around him. "Now allow me to show you what a true master of the desert is capable of."

The sand around Luffy's feet began to twist and turn. A second passed before a waterfall of sand flew into the sky, Luffy standing upon it with his arms still raised. Luffy looked down, sand starting to consume him, and gave Crocodile a predatory smirk.

Crocodile could only watch, with a growing sense of dread, as more and more sand flew into the sky and joined the ever-growing column of sand. Suddenly, everything seemed to stop, as if the earth itself was holding its breath in anticipation.

From within the column of sand, two giant yellow-colored eyes opened.

Sir Crocodile could feel his soul shiver from fear as he stared at what that column of sand was becoming. That column was forming into a giant, sand-colored raccoon with unique blue markings all over its body. The pupil of its eyes were black, containing yellow irises with pupils that took shape as a four-pointed star with four black dots around it.

This raccoon then opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharpened teeth.

**"Fool… To think you could beat me with my own element? How foolish. Now, behold the true power of One-Tailed Shukaku! _Kiko no Suna (Army of the Sand)_!"**

The sand around Crocodile began to shift and turn before a hand, made of compacted sand, rose out of the depths. Crocodile looked on in horror as an army of men began to arise from the desert.

Each of these sand-beings wore a long coat that went past their shorts, and scarfs around their necks. The most prominent feature of these sand-soldiers was the large top-hats and goggles they wore around the brims of their hats.

**"For hurting my nakama, feel the wrath of an entire nation."**

Acting upon an unseen signal, each of the sand-soldiers leapt at Crocodile. Each of them was ready to inflict massive amounts of pain upon that wicked man.

Crocodile didn't even have a second before he was attacked by at least thirty of the sand clones from all sides. Quickly dissolving himself into sand particles Crocodile dodged the many attacks sent at him and reformed himself on a large rock outcrop that was near the battlefield. Unfortunately since he was so focused on the giant sand raccoon and his army, he never noticed the figure that was behind him.

**SHINK**

***drip…drip***

Crocodile stood there stunned as the tip of a large, claw-shaped halberd emerged from the left side of his chest. Even though none of his vital organs had been pierced, Crocodile was astounded that he had gotten hurt in the first place.

'How can this be? How could he have bypassed my defense?' Crocodile thought.

Turning his head around to face his attacker, Crocodile could see that it was another of "Akasuna" sand clones. However, this clone was different than the rest of them. It was fully colored, and if Crocodile didn't know it, he would've thought it was an actual person.

In the clone's right hand was a demonic-looking halberd that looked just like one of that demonic raccoon's claws, the tip of the spear was lodged deeply within Crocodile's body. In the clone's left hand was a broken canteen, still dripping water onto the desert sands?

_'Damn, beaten by a kid_.' Crocodile thought.

The rest of the clones moved in closer, each of them with demonic-looking halberd. However, moments before the clones would've hit him with their halberds, they stopped before dissolving into sand. This gave Crocodile a clear view of the demonic raccoon that "Red Sand" Luffy had become.

"**Goodbye, Sir Crocodile**." The raccoon stated.

The demonic raccoon lifted one of its massive arms above its head and, with a second's pause, slammed it against its stomach. A highly compressed sphere of wind shot from its mouth and seemed to scream as zoomed towards Crocodile.

As this attack drew closer and closer to his immobile form, Crocodile couldn't help but have one final thought.

_'__I should've never tried to fight you, "Bloody Sand_"…' Crocodile thought aloud. '_You are the true Master of the Desert…'_

* * *

><p><strong><span>Techniques:<span>**

1. Desert Spāda (Treasured Sword of the Desert): Crocodile forms his right hand into a loose blade of fast-moving sand and then stabs it into the ground, extending it along the ground like a torpedo, splitting anything in its path, including the very ground itself, through extreme and focused erosion, created by the sand blade, which is strong enough to slice a man in half.

2. Desert la Spada (Adamant Treasured Sword of the Desert): An altered version of Desert Spada. Crocodile now forms several solid blades with fan-shaped edges instead of one large blade made from sand. This is the only time Crocodile has formed solid objects out of sand, although a sufficiently powerful blow will shatter it back into sand.

3. Sabaku Shippu Spada (Desert Storm Blade):

4. Te no Shukaku (Hand of Shukaku): 

5. Kiko no Suna (Army of Sand):

**This is the redone version of Ichibi:The Red Sands.**


	2. Nibi, Blue Flames

**A/N:Authors Note: This is the redone version of nibi  
><strong>

**Now more awesome thanks to my new beta Chash123**

"Shut up meat is the best" someone talking

"_Are you insane, ramen is best." _someone thinking

"I thought we told you to shut up, hn" Techniques

"**Please someone get me away from these two."** demons talking

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2:Nibi, Blue Flames<strong>

* * *

><p>Thriller Bark was a giant ship that was currently floating in the Florian Triangle, a stretch of sea that one had to cross over to reach Fishman Island. This island-sized boat was once located in the West Blue, but eventually it had moved into the Florian Triangle ten years ago due to the machinations of a madman.<p>

It was owned by a man known as Gekko Moriah, who is currently a member of the Shichibukai. Gekko had gathered people under his banner, and now he had over 1,000 people and zombies on his island-sized boat all ready to serve him.

Thriller Bark was a horrifying place that cause grown men to weep in fear from the very mention of its name, because of the gruesome tales that circulated the oceans about it. Hardened warriors would run away from this place as fast as they could, and avoided the Florian Triangle at all costs. The mere sight of the nightmarish warriors that inhabited the island would send any man running.

XXXXXX

-Thriller Bark: Semi-Dead Forest-

"Hey idiot!" A gravelly, male voice shouted. "Don't add so much salt!"

Or not.

A group of poorly-constructed zombies sat together in a semi-circle, huddling around a burning fire. They were apparently trying to cook some type of fish over the fire, the problem was one of the zombies had attempted to season it with some salt.

A large, blue-skinned zombie that was holding a small, blood-spattered fan was currently berating his fellow undead. As he laid into the other zombie he made sure that he kept waving his fan, making sure that the cooking fish wouldn't burn.

"You idiot, are you trying to destroy us! Do you remember what happened to 123 when she used too much salt? Her shadow was freed and her body was reduced to ash!"

A short, blue-skinned zombie with a sword stuck in his gut, and a salt-shaker in his left hand, released a sigh from his decayed lungs. He then leveled a glare at the other zombie as he proceeded to speak.

"Well, excuse me for trying to add some flavor to the darn thing! It's not like our decomposed taste-buds will make this fish enjoyable..." The short zombie stated.

A third, medium-sized zombie sighed before he shifted awkwardly. The small dingy that had been embedded into his lower torso never really caused him any pain but it did make it somewhat awkward to move around. The zombie cleared his throat, gaining the attention of his two companions. He didn't want them to break into another argument, and that was the only reason that he had spoken up. He was "dead" tired of hearing them bicker all the time.

"Look 32, all that 64 is trying to say is that you should use some other spices besides salt… if you really want to "spice up" the fish…" The third zombie said.

"He's right, nya." A fourth, unidentified male voice said. "You should've used some pepper on it. Would've made it taste better, nya."

All three zombies had frozen at the voice, having not recognized it. They then proceeded to slowly turn their heads towards the voice and froze at the sight that greeted them.

A slender, black-haired boy in his late teens was chomping away at their fish, acting as if he didn't have a care in the world. He was wearing a short-sleeved black and purple t-shirt on his upper body and a pair of black pants on his legs. On each of his hands he wore a pair of purple fingerless gloves and he also had a chain of white beads crossing around his left hand. The teenager was also wearing white bandages around his arms and legs, as well as a blood-red sash that was tied snugly around his waist. The only other mentionable thing about him was the small scar that the boy had right underneath his left eye.

All three zombies stared at this black-haired teenager for a couple of moments, before each of them realized something; that teenager was eating their fish! The fish that they had spent hours trying to catch before they had finally succeeded; which had only been possibly since the fish had nowhere to swim in the rock grotto that it was stuck in.

"Hey! That guy's eating our fish!" The large zombie shouted.

"Let's get him!" The short zombie yelled.

All three zombies then started to run towards the teenager who continued to eat their fish with a carefree expression on his face. When the zombies were within range of the black-haired boy, he transformed his entire arm into blue and black flames. The youth then swung his burning limb at the three zombies, releasing three balls of blue-black flames.

"Onibi (Wiil O' Wisp)."

The three zombies didn't even get the chance to scream before they were all reduced into three separate piles of ashes. The flaming blue orbs hung in the air for a few more moments before they dissipated into the night. All the while, the black-haired teenager continued to eat the fish until he finished it off completely.

"Nya, those guys were so weak…boring." The teenager complained.

"What do you expect Luffy-sama?" A young, feminine voice asked. "You're just that strong."

At the sound of the voice, Luffy turned his head towards the forest as a figure emerged from the gloom. It was a woman with long, pink hair and amber-colored eyes. She was wearing a strapless black dress with ruchings, and a pair of high-heeled boots on her feet. Adorned on her head was a large Elizabethan crown that was adorned with an assortment of precious gems. The woman also had a bat tattoo and a simple watch on her left bicep and wrist, respectively.

Luffy smiled at the sight of her and got up from where he had been sitting down. He then walked over to the pink-haired woman and, when he was close enough, pulled her into a passionate embrace. It brought a rosy-red blush to her face, which did not go unnoticed by him.

"Nya… Perona-hime, what have I told you about calling me "Sama" when we're alone, nya?" Luffy asked.

Perona's blush deepened, but this time it was out of embarrassment. No matter how times Luffy seemed to tell her, she couldn't seem to stop calling him "Sama", even when the two of them were alone.

"Sorry, Luffy…kun." Perona whispered.

Luffy's smile grew as he moved his head closer to Perona's. Pausing for a moment Luffy looked into Perona's amber-colored eyes, merely drinking in the sight of them. He then leaned down and pressed a kiss onto those blood-red lips that he adored.

XXX (Flashback) XXX

-Dawn Island: Windmill Town-

A young, ten year-old Monkey D. Luffy was walking through Windmill Town, bored out of his mind. His grandfather had decided that, in his insane plan on making Luffy into a marine, Luffy should come with him and watch how he does his job. Unfortunately today's work was all paperwork, so while his grandfather was busy taking care of "Important Marine Business", Luffy was left looking for ways to entertain himself.

"Nya, I'm sooooo bored..." Luffy whined, kicking a stone into a nearby bush. "I wish something cool would happen…"

"Get out of here you monster!"

That yell shook Luffy from his bored state as he quickly looked around, trying to find the source of it. He soon found a small mob of people surrounding something in a loose circle, jeering and shouting insults at whatever was in the middle of it.

Luffy, being the curious child that he was, decided to investigate what was going on. He snuck over to the group without anyone noticing him. When he reached the edge of the mob, Luffy had to squeeze his way through the throngs of people in order to reach the center. When he made his way into the middle of the mob he saw what they were yelling at, and felt his blood start to boil with rage. Unseen by anyone in the mob, blue flames began to manifest on Luffy's shoulders in response to his rage.

In the center of the mob was a small, pink-haired girl about his age, on her knees. She was covering her eyes with her hands as she cried her little heart out.

She was wearing black, white, and bright red clothing. Her bubblegum-pink hair was tied in two high pigtails with somewhat flower-shaped black and white hairpins, and a red crown with a cross on top. Tights covered her entire legs and she wore a mini-skirt and red buckled boots to match.

"Wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh! I'm… I'm n-not a monster!" The little girl cried, and kept repeating the phrase over, as if that would make it true. "I-I'm not… I'm n-not a m-monster…"

This only seemed to egg on the mob even more, if their angry facial expressions were anything to go by. With each insult they threw, Luffy's blue flames grew larger and more intense as his rage increased.

"Why don't you just die?" A black-haired man yelled, throwing a stone at the girl. "No one wants you here!"

As that small, gray stone flew through the air; Luffy felt all of his self-restraint vanish with an audible "snap", before he leapt into action.

**"RRAAAGGGHHH!"**

In a flash of blue-black flames, the gray stone was incinerated, and the mob started to back up in fear. The boy that some people had noticed was now standing in front of the "monster", before his body was consumed in blue-black flames.

The blue-black flames roared 20 feet into the air, before they began to twist into a large feline shape. Twin tails formed at the back of the creature before it opened its eyes, both glowing with an unholy light.

"**I will devour your souls**!" The blue-black cat roared.

The mob, being the cowards that they were, immediately turned tail and ran away from the demonic cat. All the while they yelled about the "monster" and its "demonic pet" that was "trying to kill them".

When Luffy couldn't see the mob anymore, he reverted to his human form. Blue and black flames licked his shoulders from his residual anger, but he ignored them for now. His first priority was to see how the girl was doing.

"Hi, my name's Monkey D. Luffy!" Luffy greeted, after he had turned around wearing a large Cheshire grin. "What's your name, nya?"

The girl, who was no longer crying but merely sniffling, stammered out her answer, "Perona."

"That's a pretty name Perona-chan. Nya, that crown on your head makes you look like a pretty princess!" Luffy stated, smiling a mega-watt smile.

Perona's tear-streaked face lit up like a Christmas tree, positively beaming from his comment. He actually liked her crown! Maybe, he wouldn't run away, like all the others had. Maybe, if she was really careful not avoid making her Ghosts appear, they could be friends. Unfortunately her momentary lack of concentration caused one of her negative ghost to appear from out of nowhere.

Fearing that her savior might think of her as a freak or a monster, she got up on shaky legs as she attempted to run. She stopped when she felt his arm on her shoulder stopping her escape. Mentally preparing herself for the hatred that he would no doubt show her, she turned around to face him; what she saw on his face was not hatred though. His eyes were sparkling with amazement and awe, which in of itself was highly unusual.

"Man that was AWESOME!" Luffy yelled excitedly, waving his arms around in the air like he was on a sugar rush. "I didn't know someone could make GHOSTS! YOU'RE SO AWESOME PERONA-CHAN, NYA!"

Perona felt her cheeks stretch into a grin, as her savior actually complimented her powers. He thought that they were awesome. He didn't think she was a freak, nor a monster, because she could make them.

"Hey, why don't you join my pirate crew?"

Perona only blushed more as she nodded her head in agreement.

"Awesome!" Luffy shouted out, swinging his arm around her neck.

"Hey Perona-chan do you want to be my Pirate Queen Nya?"

That was too much for little Perona as she fainted dead away with a cherry red blush and steam coming out of her ears.

"PERONA-CHAN! WHAT'S WRONG NYA?"

XXXXXXEnd FlashbackXXXXXX

Perona sighed in bliss from her position in Luffy's arms as she remembered that blissful day. She was sure that mob would've finally broken her, had Luffy not interfered.

"Luffy-kun do you remember the day we met?" Perona asked as she stared into her beloved's silted eyes.

"Of course I do Perona-hime that was the day I asked you to be my Pirate Queen nya."

Perona merely snuggled into his chest more. She really enjoyed moments like this, where she could feel the warmth of his body and feel the pounding of his heart. It was wonderful.

"I'm so glad I accepted." Perona murmured into his chest.

Enjoying her embrace for a few more moments Luffy reluctantly released his hold on her.

"Nya, Perona-hime as much as I love this moment we need to find the others shadows."

Perona broke their embrace with a disappointed sigh and pointed in the direction of a large gothic castle.

"From what my negatives could gather some guy called Moriah is using our crew's shadows to empower his zombies. If we want to leave this island with the rest of our crew then we need to get their shadows back."

Luffy smile took on a more sinister quality as his form was engulfed in a plume of blue fire. From within the flames two glowing white eyes appeared as the beast within emerged. Luffy's new form was much larger then it was years ago.

This time it was around the size of a wooly mammoth. Its form was a chaotic swirl of blue fire and darkness as its fanged mouth curved into sinister grin.

"**That fool of a pirate thinks himself the lord of the dead; let's see how he handles the servant of the shinigami, The Nibi no Nekotama!"**

Luffy let out a challenging roar as he and Perona made their way to the Gothic castle, all the while an army of Negative ghosts appearing around Perona as she unfolded her umbrella. It was time to show Moriah what true masters of death can do.

* * *

><p><strong>Techniques<strong>:

1. Onibi (Will o'wisp): Using the powers of his Devil-Fruit, Luffy transforms his arm into blue-black flames. He can then release orbs of blue-black flames that will burn anything that he commands them to. Against a normal human, Onibi will inflict them with severe burns. Against a zombie, the blue-black flames will incinerate them.

**Once again sorry it's so late but tell me how I did on the romance in this chapter? Next chapter is Sanbi.**


	3. Sanbi, Green Tides: Turbulent Waves

**A/N: This is Sanbi of the Green Tides; also I and my Beta Chash123 have redone the first two chapters so now they are packed with more of that anime goodness that you all love. So Re-read and review them, or sniper Kitty will get you.**

"Well I bet that I become Pirate King Before you become the Hokage." Someone talking.

'_Oh it's on now hat boy, dattebayo' _Someone thinking.

"P-please don't fight Naruto-kun" Techniques being used

"**When will my torture end?" **Demon talking.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3:Sanbi,Green Tides; Turbulent Waves<strong>

* * *

><p>XXXXXXX<p>

-East Blue: Dawn Island-

On a small sandy beach on Dawn Island, not too far away from Foosha Village, if someone bothered to look, they would find a little boy sitting alone, with his knees up to his chest.

The boy had shaggy grey and black hair that was covered by a large straw hat. Half of his face was covered in fresh blood that mingled with the tears that poured from his eyes. Speaking of his eyes, if one would look at them then they would discover that the boy's iris was an odd shade of pink. He was wearing a grey sleeveless shirt over a set of mesh armor, and on top of that he also wore a green poncho with a turquoise sash that wrapped around his waist. He also wore a pair of brown, mud-stained boots along with a small pouch attached to his waist.

This child was Monkey D. Luffy, the grandson of Monkey. D. Garp the famous marine who fought Gol D. Roger himself. Today Luffy was hiding from his grandfather, weeping, as the memories of his brother's death continuously repeated themselves before his eyes.

XXX Flashback XXX

"Sabo, where are you!" Luffy hollered.

It had been a few days after the fire at the Grey Terminal, and Luffy and Ace had decided to look for their other "sworn" brother Sabo. After searching for him for hours they had decided to climb their secret tree in order to get a better view of the island. Of course, that had been an hour ago, and Luffy hadn't stopped shouting since.

"Sabo, ANSWER ME!"

"Shut up Luffy! If Sabo hasn't heard you since you've started yelling, what makes you think he'll hear you now?" Ace asked angrily.

Luffy's face pouted in anger at Ace's sarcastic question and he looked ready to yell back at his older brother, before he stopped. He had spotted something familiar in the distance, and squinted to try to get a better view of the thing he had seen.

"Hey, what's that boat doing over there Ace?" Luffy asked.

Ace turned his head to the direction that Luffy was pointing and did see something in the distance, but it too far away for him really see what it was. He then proceeded to reach into his bag and grab a telescope that he had brought with him before placing it over his eye.

The thing that Luffy had seen was indeed a small fishing boat, which confused Ace a little bit.

_'How did Luffy see that?_' Ace wondered.

While contemplating his brother's unusually strong senses, Ace was trying to focus his telescope on the person steering the boat. He let a small smile grow on his face when he saw a small child wearing a top hat near the boat's rudder.

"Hey Luffy, I found Sabo." Ace said.

Luffy's head whipped towards Ace.

"Really? Where is he?" Luffy asked.

Ace merely tossed his telescope over to Luffy so he could look through it. The smaller black-haired boy caught it expertly before he brought it up to one of his eyes, closing the other in an attempt to see better. He saw through the telescope that Sabo was sailing back towards the Grey Terminal, which made him very happy.

_'Awesome! With Sabo back we can be brothers again!'_ Luffy thought with a grin.

Luffy then saw another, much larger ship enter the view of Ace's telescope, and it looked like it was heading towards Goa. The ship was many times larger than Sabo's small fishing vessel, though the larger boat wouldn't crash into Sabo's boat, since they were too far away from each other for that.

'_It's a good thing that Sabo's out of that ships way, otherwise he could've been crus…' _Luffy began to think, before he paused.

A Marine was on the large boat heading in the direction of Sabo's fishing vessel, and he looked to be pointing something at it. Luffy tried to increase the focus of Ace's telescope to see what was in the Marine's hands, and he frowned when it became crystal clear.

'_Why was that Marine holding a bazooka, and why was he aiming it at Sabo's ship?_ His eyes widened as he realized what was going to happen. That Marine was going to fire his weapon at Sabo's boat!

Before Luffy could tell Ace, the Marine fired his bazooka at Sabo's ship. There was a massive explosion that consumed Sabo's ship, sending debris flying everywhere, before it started to settle. When it had finally settled, it revealed only Sabo's top-hat floating in the water.

"SABO!"

XXX End Flashback XXX

Since that day Luffy and Ace had changed. They had made a pact to each other, swearing that they would get stronger in order to protect each other, and avenge their dearly departed brother.

The pair trained from sunrise to sunset every single day, and slowly grew stronger as time passed. However, after three months had passed after Sabo's death, Ace had decided that it was time for his own adventure. Luffy knew he couldn't stop his brother from doing what he wanted, so, with a tearful goodbye, he saw his brother off.

Seeing Ace leave was very difficult for Luffy, but it didn't diminish his determination at all. He had redoubled his training efforts for the next month, preparing for his own adventure. Everything had been going very well, until yesterday.

XXX Flashback XXX

Today Luffy had decided to learn how to use the throwing knives that Magra had given him as a present. The large, chicken-like man was sitting outside of Dadan's hideout, overseeing Luffy's training.

"Luffy, how many times have I told you to use your wrists when throwing your knives?" Magra asked.

He had just watched as Luffy threw a throwing knife, hilt first, into the ground; jamming it there.

Magra wondered how that was even possible.

"Luffy, the wrist! Use your WRIST!" Magra shouted.

"What do you think I've been trying to do for the last hour?" Luffy shouted back as he, unsuccessfully, threw another throwing knife.

"Hey Luffy! GUESS WHOSE BACK!"A familiar, deep baritone yelled out from the woods.

Luffy immediately turned around and saw the owner of the familiar voice. He ran over to the figure before he wrapped his arms around him in a hug.

"Grandpa."

Monkey D. Garp had returned from his latest marine mission and he had come back with news that would change how his grandson viewed him forever.

"So did you learn any new tricks while I was gone?" Garp asked.

Luffy smiled, He couldn't wait to show off his new skills to his grandpa, and hopefully impress him through his shear awesomeness.

"I sure did Grandpa! Magra here is teaching me how to use throwing knives!" Luffy said.

Garp eyed the discarded throwing knives that littered the field, taking note on how none of them were even close to any of the targets that Magra had set up for Luffy.

"I can see that Luffy." Garp said, before remembering the reason he wanted to see his grandson.

"Now Luffy, there's another reason why I came back here to see you. I decided that it's high time you get started on your training to become a great Marine, so I enrolled you into the Marineford Academy."

Luffy's face fell at hearing what his grandfather had said. Normally, he would've been annoyed at his grandfather's insistence that he become a marine, but because of Sabo's death at their hands his patience with his grandfather had worn through.

"But Grandpa, I've told you a million times that I don't want to become a Marine. I want to be the Pirate King and find One Piece!" Luffy stated.

Garp quickly became agitated at hearing his grandson's dream. Why couldn't the boy just accept the fact that he wasn't ever going to become a Pirate and that he would be a Marine instead?

"Now Luffy, it's time that you let that silly little dream of yours go and become the respectable Marine that you should be, not some sea-dog pirate like that "Red-Haired" Shanks fellow." Garp stated.

Hearing his grandfather not only insult his idol, but also callously dismiss his dream sent Luffy into a rage. He pushed himself away from his grandfather as his nails began to sharpen, and his teeth started to round.

"WHY SHOULD I BECOME A CORRUPT KILLER, LIKE A MARINE?" Luffy demanded angrily.

Upon his grandson's words, Garp was reminded of his own son's words to him when Garp had tried to make him into a Marine.

_"Why should I become a Marine father? They hurt the citizens that they're supposed to protect and protect the corrupt World Nobles that they're supposed to try and stop. If anything, Marines are worse than the Pirates they fight."_

The painful memories that his grandson's question invoked caused Garp's thin patience to run out. And when Garp lost his patience he usually hit whatever was closest to him, which in this case was his own grandson.

SMACK!

Due to his anger, Garp's blow sent Luffy flying further than he had meant to. It sent Luffy flying onto one of the discarded throwing knives that were sticking up from the ground.

SLICE!

"!"

Luffy clutched the left side of his face, a steady amount of blood leaking through his fingers. It was his scream that brought Dadan out of the shack to investigate what was going on.

"Hey, what's going on out…? OH MY KAMI! LUFFY!"

Dadan rushed to Luffy's side in order to check his injuries. When she managed to see the injury on Luffy's face that Garp had caused, she turned to him with a malevolent glare in her eyes.

"GARP! WHAT DID YOU DO TO LUFFY?" Dadan demanded.

Garp was stunned at what he had just done, he never meant to seriously harm his own grandson; all he wanted to do was to knock some sense into the boy.

"I… I-I didn't mean to." Garp stammered out.

Garp's answer only served to make Dadan angrier.

"YOU DIDN'T MEAN TO? LOOK AT YOUR GRANDSON GARP!" Dadan screamed. "YOU DID THIS TO HIM!"

Seeing that Dadan was right, and that his grandson needed medical attention, Garp started to make his way towards Luffy so that he could pick him up.

Luffy looked out through his one uncovered eye to see that his grandfather was making his way towards him. Fueled by the adrenaline in his system, and his current pain, Luffy made a hasty decision. He escaped from Dadan's embrace and he started running towards the forest. He pushed Magra out of the way as the man tried to stop him, before he sprinted into the dense foliage.

Garp could feel his heart break as he watched his grandson run away from him in fear; he couldn't even go after him. All Garp could do was stare at the knife that was covered in his grandson's blood.

XXX End Flashback XXX

Luffy had run for hours before he finally found himself at the beach. He had made sure that no one had followed him, so he was safe for now. Deciding that it was time to clear the blood from his face Luffy managed to stand on his feet.

He made his way over to a nearby stream before lowering himself down at the water line. He splashed the cool water onto his face to clear the remaining blood from it. He repeated this process over and over until the blood had been completely washed off. He stopped for a second when he saw his new reflection.

He found himself surprised to see that his injury had already healed over in the small amount of time since he got it. It had formed into another scar that ran from his eye to his jaw, crossing through the other scar that was underneath his left eye.

After looking at his new scar for a few seconds, Luffy decided that it was time to move. He made his way back to his feet before he started walking over to a nearby cliff that created the cove for the beach. When he reached the cliffs base he started hiking up one of the many trails that lead to the summit.

When he made it to the top of the cliff, he merely stood at the edge of it and watched as the ocean's waves rolled by. After a while he made his decision and stepped over the edge, and begins his plunge towards the water.

As he fell closer and closer to the churning waves, Luffy remembered a song that Sabo had taught him shortly before he had died.

_"Yo Ho, Yo Ho. A pirate's life for me…"_

**SPLASH**

Luffy hit the water and almost immediately sank underneath the turbulent waters. Everything was quiet; as it appeared that the future "Pirate King" had jumped to his death.

That was until three large and armored, shrimp-like tails rose from the depths of the ocean, sending forth sprays of sea-water in every direction as they seemed to dance in the air. These tails sank back into the water before a large shape arose from the ocean, revealing to the world what Luffy had become.

It had the general shape of a large turtle but it was twisted and wrong. It was the size of a large elephant and it had an even larger shell on its back. The shell was odd; it appeared to be made of something similar to a crabs shell. The armor from the shell extended to cover all of its limbs. It had no legs, but it did have two large muscular arms that, oddly enough had a pair of hands with four fingers and an opposable thumb on each. Its underbelly was crimson red with black vertical lines that ran across his body from the tip of his tails to the bottom of his jaw.

Its head was the most horrifying part of the beast; its face was coved with spikes that looked like they were made from the sharpest coral. It had one of its eyes closed but the other one was something straight from a nightmare. The monster's scalar was like the void, draining the very life and hope of anyone who dared look at it, and its iris was as red as freshly drawn blood. It breached the surface for a moment before it began to swim out to sea, all the while humming a soft tune in its demonic voice.

**"Drink up me hearties, Yo Ho!"**

XXX Five weeks later XXX

It had been five weeks since Luffy had departed from Darn Island, and ever since then he had been training to use the body that his Devil Fruit gave him. He had learned to swim with it more proficiently as the days past, but he had not mastered any of the offensive abilities that his new form possessed.

To learn how to use his more battle oriented abilities, Luffy had swum to the Calm Belt to fight the numerous Sea Kings that dwelled there. After fighting with creatures that were many times larger than him, Luffy had uncovered what his new form was capable of.

During one particularly harsh battle he discovered that he could control the water of the ocean. At first he wasn't able to exert any real control over it, but after a few days of practice, he had managed to redirect ocean currents and create new ones, though this exhausted him considerably. Luffy had also discovered that his new body had given him incredible brute strength. In his fights with the Sea Kings, he had been able to send most of them swimming away after a few punches.

The only weakness that his form seemed to have was the fact that his form lacked any legs; if he tried to use his full release form on dry land then he would be as slow as any other turtle on land.

_'I've spent enough time in the Calm Belt.'_ Luffy thought as he casually swam next to a large school of Sea Kings, which ignored his presence.

'_Perhaps it's time that I moved on'_

With that thought in mind, Luffy began his assent to the ocean's surface, using his shrimp-like tails to propel himself faster. He stopped when he saw something floating directly above him.

_'What is that thing?'_ Luffy thought.

Not wanting to alert whatever that thing was to his presence, Luffy swam a couple hundred meters away before his head breached the surface of the water, and allowed him to clearly see the thing that was floating.

What he saw nearly made him lose control over himself.

It was a large ship that bore the flag of a Marine vessel, but it was what was emblazoned on that flag that made Luffy's blood boil. It was a hoof print with three clawed toes, the sign of the Celestial Dragons. This was the vessel that had destroyed Sabo's small fishing boat, killing Sabo in the process.

Luffy ducked his head back into the water before he dived deeper into the ocean. He then began to swim as fast as he could towards the ship, his mind becoming consumed by an unholy rage.

**'These are the people that killed Sabo! These Marines, so-called servants of "Justice", killed him for no reason! They should just DIE! They should feel FEAR and HOPELESSNESS as their time on this earth comes to an end! And I am going to be the one who's going to do it!'**

As Luffy's rage grew, his body grew larger. He was once the size of an elephant, but because of his rage, he had grown to match even the largest Sea King in size. However, even as he stopped growing, his rage did not. As he drew closer to the ship, Luffy never noticed that the water around him began to change colors into an emerald green.

XXXXX

-Calm Belt: Ship-

Vice-Admiral Kiba Taicho sighed for what felt to be the millionth time as he was forced to listen to the endless complaints and rattling of the ship's only non-marine passenger, a Celestial Dragon by the name of Uchiha Sasuke.

For any other Marine, transporting such an important World Noble would've been considered a monumentally important mission. For Kiba, it was hell on Earth.

In Kiba's personal opinion, there was a way that any person could classify a Celestial Dragon. First off, they're not fat, as that would've been an insult to fat people everywhere. Instead, they were "shapes". They never stayed as one single consistency, and they were as ugly as stuff found in the sewers.

The only way that they can keep their vaguely humanoid appearance by wear something that looks like a colorblind alien threw away. They had personalities that matched their appearance; honestly no normal human can act like these people and be considered sane. They act like spoiled, whiny brats who get away with whatever they want because their ancestors were important.

It didn't help that the marines actively encouraged the walking pieces of excrements to do whatever the hell they wanted.

"You, peasant, make this ship go faster. I wish to return to the Saboady Archipelago; there is a sale on Fishmen and Mermaids there I do not wish to miss." Sasuke demanded.

Kiba merely grumbled underneath his breath, and blocked out Sasuke's demands as he steered the brat's ship. After a few minutes, he started to notice something weird was going on; the water around the ship was turning a brilliant, emerald-green color.

"What the hell?" All of a sudden, the ship lurched before it came to a complete stop. This abrupt change sent most of the crew flying into a nearby wall, or any other furniture that might be in the way.

"What the hell just happened?" Kiba marched over to a Den Den Mushi, and used it to contact the officers on the engineering levels.

"Kiba to engineering… What the hell happened down there?"

The small snail opened its eyes and responded to Kiba, in the exact voice of the Head Engineer.

"Engineering team to bridge, the rudder has been torn off! We aren't aware of what did it, but it had to be something big!"

That statement stunned Kiba for a few moments before he calmed himself down and began to think. This ship was outfitted with a sea-stone bottom, which would deter even the mightiest Sea-Kings from approaching, as it naturally repelled them. So what could've done it then?

Unfortunately, the Tenryūbito brat that Kiba was guarding chose this moment to remind everyone that he was still alive, and his anger at the current situation.

"You stupid peasant! Do you have any fathomable idea of just who I am? I am a Tenryūbito, and as such my blood is that of the Twenty Kings that created the World Government! If you don't get this ship moving, I will have you executed!" Sasuke shouted.

The Vice-Admiral was about to try and calm down the ranting Tenryūbito brat, however he never got the chance to. He noticed a thick, green mist was rolling in towards his boat, which confused him. Where had this sudden mist come from, and what was with it's strange color?

"Vice-Admiral Kiba, this mist… it's just not natural, sir!" A scared Marine exclaimed, his eyes wide.

Kiba was about to berate the young officer when he saw something emerge from the thick mist that had consumed his vessel. When this object drew near to the boat, the more inexperienced Marines began to scream out of pure fear.

The object was actually a small fishing boat that looked to have been gutted by a cannonball, with a few fires still burning on its surface. However, that was not what had frightened Kiba's Marines, it was the obvious captain of that vessel that did.

The being's face was hidden within the shadows of his cloak's hood, though every Marine knew that he was staring at them. As the boat sailed closer, the captain lifted one of his arms. The Marines screamed in fear as the hand came into the dim light, revealing it to be simple white bone.

In the thoughts of the Marines, they thought that boat's captain was Death himself. It then spoke in a slow, rattling voice that sent shivers up the Marines' spines.

**"It's time for you all to pay that debt that all men owe…"**

What that simple statement, all Hell broke loose.

The ship gave another startling lurch, throwing several Marines off of the boat, screaming in pure terror as they did so. Kiba barked out an order for all men to get to their battle stations, and to secure themselves down, but he was too late.

Three massive shadows blotted out the dim light, causing some Marines to scream. Kiba turned around and could feel his heart stop as he watched three demonic, shrimp-like tails emerge from the ocean. His Marines began to shoot at the three tails, but it no good as the bullets ricocheted off of the tails, and sent them into a frenzy.

The three tails began to thrash about, crushing anything underneath them. People screamed as their comrades were crushed, before one tail wrapped around the mast and constricted.

Kiba could hear the mast groan underneath the strength of that tail before a massive "crack"-like sound filled the air, seconds before the tail released the mast. The mast then fell onto the ship, crushing a few Marines that had stood underneath it and sending debris flying into the air.

Just as Kiba was about to give up hope, the tails stopped their destructive rampage. They then slithered back into the ocean, leaving the ship alone in the green mist.

Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Kiba began barking orders. He told his crew to scavenge for as much supplies as they would be able to fit onto their lifeboats. They were going to have to abandon the ship and take the lifeboats, as the ship was too damaged to sail now.

"No you're not." Sasuke said, crossing his fat arms. "All of my things are on this ship, so we can't abandon it!"

Kiba really wanted to smack some sense into the brat, but didn't. It was a crime to hit one of the Tenryūbito, though he was feeling tempted to do it anyway.

"But Uchiha-sama, if that thing comes back we'll be sitting ducks. We need to evacuate and get as much distance as possible!" Kiba responded.

The Tenryūbito scoffed, "As if such a stupid animal as that would dare harm me! I have the blood of the Twenty Kings following inside of me, and as such, I am better than such a mere beast."

Kiba was going to punch the self-centered brat when he caught sight of something emerging from the ocean. If the shadow was anything to go by, then the monster itself would be larger than most Sea-Kings, if that was even possible.

His eyes widened in horror as the beast breached_, 'A demon… It's a demon!'_

The thing was some kind of demonic turtle, straight from the bowls of hell itself. It looked over the ship for a moment before it opened its horrible mouth and released a soul-splitting scream.

From the demon's outstretched jaws, a ball of pure darkness began to form. Even from his distance away from the horrific beast, he could feel the massive amount of demonic power that was present inside that orb.

"Uchiha-sama, we have to get out of here NOW!"

"No, I-"

The demonic turtle swallowed the ball of pure darkness, before its body began to swell. Kiba grabbed the back of the irritating Tenryūbito's coat before he raced towards the edge of the boat, knowing that he only has a few moments at the best.

**"Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Ball)!"**

A blast of pure destructive power flew from the demon's mouth and burned the sea as it ventured closer to the ship. In moments it had consumed the ship, and Vice-Admiral Kiba's life ended after two seconds of pure agony.

XXXXXXXXXX

_**'Yes, they're dead. Sabo's avenged.'**_

After he had destroyed the source of his sudden rage, the red haze that had covered Luffy's mind began to recede. He began to shrink as his anger dissipated until he had returned to his normal, elephant-size.

It was when the haze around his mind faded, and he was able to think coherently, that Luffy realized just what he had done in his anger.

_'W-what have I-I done?'_ Luffy thought, horrified.

The once grandiose ship that had housed Sabo's murderer had over 75% of its hull vaporized by his attack. The remaining 25% of the ruined boat was just now beginning to sink, flames flickering all over its surface as smoke wafted into the air.

Littered throughout the area besides the remains of the ship were the bodies of the ship's crew. Each of them appeared to have tried to avoid his attack by diving into the water, but that hadn't saved them. His attack had caused the ocean's temperature, in that area, to rise to over 200 degrees.

They had been killed by the boiling water, like how a crab or lobster was killed by placing the creatures into a boiling pot.

_'I… I-I need to get o-out of here…!'_

Luffy quickly dived back beneath the surface of the ocean and swam away from the tragedy he had caused as fast as he could. He didn't know where he was going as his mind continued to show him what he had done, and his guilt overwhelmed him. He just wanted to get away.

However, if he had stayed near the wreckage he had created, he would've seen a small lifeboat drifting away from the formerly grandiose ship. A single passenger was in this lifeboat, along with the Den-Den Mushi that had once belonged to Vice-Admiral Kiba.

"This… this is Petty-Officer Sharp…" The burned man coughed, before he brought the Den-Den Mushi closer. "… Connect me to Central… I have s-something… important to tell them."

* * *

><p>XXXXXXXXXXX<p>

Techniques:

1.Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Ball): A biju's ultimate attack, compressing their incredible power into a single point a biju can take down most anything with this single technique.

**And that's part one of my Sanbi plotline, be sure to stay tuned for the next episode, Sanbi: Tidal Wave.**

**Also be sure to re-read and review my redone chapter or else sniper kitty will get you.**


	4. Sanbi, Green Tides: Settling Currents

**A/N: Hey everyone this is Sharkteeth with the new installment of Sanbi. I know that I said that I would only due one shots for this fic, but there was so much that I wanted to put into Sanbi that it would've been impossible to contain within a single chapter, so I decide to expand. I won't do this for every chapter, just the ones I like.**

"Take this Gear Second" Someone talking.

'_If that's the way you want to play it then fine.'_ Someone thinking.

"Zzz, ah what? Hmm clouds" Techniques being used

"**Maybe if I go to sleep this all will turn out to be a dream."** Demon talking.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3.5: Sanbi, Green Tides; Settling Currents<strong>

* * *

><p>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX<p>

It had been two weeks since Luffy had ruthlessly destroyed the Tenryūbito's ship. Ever since then, he had been swimming deeper and further into the ocean in a futile attempt to escape the ramifications of what he had done.

_'Why did I… k-kill those people? I…I-I'm a m-monster!'_

As a child who had only turned ten recently, Luffy was obviously horrified about what he had done. He had taken the lives of an entire boatful of people, and it didn't matter that they were the ones that had killed his brother Sabo. The event had left deep scars on his very soul that may never fully heal over.

In his depression induced vigor, Luffy had never stopped swimming, not even to eat or sleep, and now he found himself in the deep darkness of the ocean floor.

_'Perhaps this is where a monster like me belongs… in the darkness.'_ Luffy thought.

Deciding that he had swam far enough, Luffy started to float listlessly towards ocean's sandy bottom. Feeling the oppressive coldness of the water around him, and having not eaten or slept in two weeks, Luffy's vision started to blacken.

_'Maybe… Maybe I'll just sleep down here for a while… I just need to… to rest my eyes…'_ Luffy thought drowsily.

"C'mon Luffy! Is that anyway for the future "Pirate King" to talk?"

Luffy's one eye snapped open, twisting his head towards a single speck of light in the darkness. His mind was racing a thousand miles per hour as he failed to comprehend how he could've heard that familiar voice.

**"Sabo?"**

The twinkling light seemed to glow brighter as Luffy pushed himself out of the sand. He then started to swim towards that light, wondering how Sabo could still be alive when he saw him die.

"C'mon Luffy, you can't quit now. I thought you said that you would become the next "Pirate King"… and you swore that nothing was going to stand in the way of your dream."

**"Sabo… I k-killed those people in cold blood…"** Luffy responded, turning his head away from the light as though it burned him**. "Why should I try to achieve my dream if… if it makes me a monster...?"**

The small light seemed to flare up in anger at the hopeless tone in Luffy's voice. It floated into Luffy's range of vision again, before it spoke once again in Sabo's voice.

"That's quitter talk! And as far as I remember, my brother was no quitter!"

Luffy frowned at "Sabo's" statement, his anger temporarily shoving away his depression and fatigue away.

**"I'm not a quitter, Sabo!"** Luffy bit out angrily. **"I will fulfill my dream, and show you that I'm not a quitter! I will become the Pirate King!"**

The light's glow became a bright white in response to Luffy's statement, as if happy for the future Pirate King's answer.

"That's good! Now, there's one thing I need you to do for me "Pirate King". I need you to swim towards the light… And hurry up! You don't have that much time left!"

Luffy realized that "Sabo" was correct. His anger was beginning to dissipated, allowing him to realize how tired and hungry he actually was. It felt like his stomach was trying to eat itself, and his body seemed much heavier than it was before. Mustering the strength granted to him by his brother's words, Luffy began moving his tails, propelling him towards the growing light.

"That's it… keep going bro, you're almost there."

Luffy put even more of his strength into making it to the light, even as his vision was beginning to darken more rapidly. Though it had not been more than a few seconds from when Luffy started making his way towards the ever-growing light, to him it felt as though an hour had gone by. Seeing that he was only a little ways away from the light Luffy gave one last herculean push with his tails, and then he saw it.

It looked like a whole undersea island made from the most beautiful corals and oceanic plant-life. The sunken kingdom seemed to be encompassed by a huge doubled-layered bubble giving it an even more dream like quality.

To Luffy, it was the most beautiful sight that he had ever seen, and it was getting even closer. Seeing that he had no way of controlling his forward momentum, due to the fact that he had no strength left, Luffy decided to just let himself slip into a deep, blissful sleep. As Luffy shut his one open eye he heard Sabo say a few remaining words.

"Hey Luffy whenever you see Ace again tell him that his Mom and Dad said 'Hi'"

XXXXFishman Island: Mermaid CoveXXXX

Outside of a small house, which appeared to be made out of coral, a young mermaid and her pet/teacher starfish were trying to find something to do.

"Pappug, I'm so bored! I really wish something interesting would happen…" The young mermaid complained to her starfish companion.

"I know that you're bored Keimi-chan, but complaining about it isn't going to help any." Pappug responded, before shrugging. "Besides it's not like something interesting is going to fall right out of the sky…"

CRASH!

"Ahh! What was THAT?" Keimi shouted, having just seen something crash into the coral that surrounded her home.

Pappug was oddly silent for a few moments before he looked up at the sky, "It's not like an awesome hat will fall right out of the sky!"

A multicolored, Scottish Tam hat fell out of the sky before it landed on Pappug's head-point. The orange starfish cheered, which went unnoticed by his mermaid companion.

Keimi, completely ignoring Pappug, swam over to the impact crater that had been caused by whatever had fallen out of the sky. When she reached the edge of the crater she poked her head over the edge and freaked out from what she saw in the middle of the hole.

"AHHH! PAPPUG, THERE'S SOMEONE DOWN THERE! GO GET MAMMA!" Keimi shouted urgently, her voice unusually shrill.

XXXMarineford (Outside Commander-in-Chief Kong's Office)XXX

Fleet-Admiral Sengoku kept a neutral expression on his face as he entered his superior's office quickly making his way to Commander-In-Chief Kong, who sitting behind his desk signing some paperwork.

Sengoku snapped off a quite salute, which he ceased at Kong's muttered "at ease" before he sat down in one of the two available chairs in front of the desk.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Sengoku asked.

Kong did not respond to Sengoku as he finished the last document of paperwork on his desk, signing it with a flourish, and set the document aside. Only after the paper reached the finished stack did he look up and nod at Sengoku's question, folding his hands before him as he did so.

"Indeed I did Sengoku; I felt it prudent to inform you that the Gorosei have ordered me to issue a mandatory meeting for all Vice-Admirals and above." Kong stated seriously.

Kong's words took Sengoku by surprise, since it wasn't that often that the Gorosei themselves called a meeting. So, by that logic, whatever this meeting would be about would have to be something extremely important.

"Is that all, sir?" Sengoku asked.

Kong nodded, "It is. You are dismissed, Fleet-Admiral." Sengoku saluted after he stood back up, then he turned and made his way out of Kong's office. He then started to walk down one of Marineford's numerous corridors, looking for one specific person who needed to be informed about the meeting; Monkey D. Garp.

_'Hm. That reminds me, I haven't seen Garp in a while… I don't think he's been around to annoy me since he returned from Windmill Village…'_

The fact that Garp hadn't come by to bother him at all in the past few weeks was slightly worrisome, as that seemed to be Garp's favorite past time when the man wasn't doing the duties that his station in the Marines required. Despite what their normal interactions may suggest Sengoku did care deeply about his friendship with Garp. Heck, they had fought side-by-side during Shiki's attack on Marineford; you don't do that unless you have absolute trust in the person that you're fighting with.

_'If I remember correctly, Garp should still be in his quarters... he hasn't left them since he came back.'_ Sengoku thought.

As Sengoku made his way to Garp's quarters, he began to wonder what could be troubling his fellow Marine. Nothing ever really seemed to affect the usually jovially, scatter-brained man, which made Sengoku worried; Garp was obviously in a funk. The big question was what caused this, and how serious was it?

After a few more minutes of walking through the hallways, Sengoku finally found himself standing outside of Garp's quarters. Sengoku knew that his friend wasn't one for formalities, so he just decided to enter his friend's room without announcing himself. What he saw surprised him to no end.

The room was in pristine condition. The bed had been made, the furniture looked to have been dusted and then washed, there were no stains on the floor, and the whole room seemed to smell of lemon. Normally when Garp returned to Marineford his quarters would be a mass of cannonballs, unfinished paperwork, and saliva-covered bones. For his room to be actually clean startled Sengoku, and it also made him realize that the situation might be more serious than he had previously thought.

Sengoku walked further into his friend's quarters, trepidation evident in every step he took, before he finally spotted Garp. The man was hunched over his all-too clean desk, a black cloud of depression practically floating above his head.

Garp's white Admiral's coat was now dirtied and smudged, and draped over his shoulders haphazardly like he had slept in it. However, that wasn't what made Sengoku worry; the half-empty bottle of scotch next to the empty glass near Garp's head was the source of Sengoku's fear.

The reason why this worried him was that he knew that Garp never drank, ever! In fact, the only time Sengoku remembered Garp drinking was when the man's son, Monkey D. Dragon, had joined the revolutionary army.

Garp raised his head from the desk, having probably heard him coming in, causing Sengoku to wince at the sight of his unshaven face and bloodshot eyes. He watched as Garp opened one of the compartments on the desk and pull out another glass. Garp placed the glass next to the other on and pour some of the scotch into both of the glasses.

"Hey Gunshi, pull up a chair, have a drink… I'm just getting some work done."

Now Sengoku was really worried, Garp NEVER referred to him by his given name, whatever was bothering him must have been even more serious then he thought.

"Garp you know that I don't drink, and if I remember correctly neither do you."

Garp merely gave a small sigh before he quickly drank the rest of his own scotch, slamming the now empty glass on the desk.

"Well I decided that it was about time that I do."

Sengoku knew that he would get nowhere with Garp if he kept dancing around the issue so, steeling his expression, Sengoku got down to business.

"Garp what's wrong with you?"

Garp stayed silent for a few moments before releasing another mournful sigh.

"I really messed up this time Gunshi."

Sengoku sat quietly as his friend told him what happened. How the man had signed his grandson, Monkey D. Luffy, up for the Marineford Academy in hope that he would become a marine. He listened as Garp told him how he argued with Luffy about how he wanted to be the Pirate King, and how Garp lost his temper with his grandson.

He listened as Garp told him how he had hurt his own grandson by sending him flying, where he landed on one of the discarded knives that Luffy had apparently been practicing with.

Throughout the entire conversation, Sengoku had stayed silent, merely listening to his friend as he told his tale. Once Garp was finished with his story, Sengoku sighed before he took off his glasses. He took out a small cloth from his pocket, using it to clean his glasses, before he put the cloth away again. He then put his glasses back on the bridge of his nose and leveled Garp a serious stare.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you Garp… you really messed up this time. Not only did you alienate your grandson even further from you, you also shattered his trust in you with that last bit of physical violence." Sengoku stated.

As Garp listened to his friend as the man listed off his regrets, he decided to forgo a cup and drink straight form the bottle. Sengoku was faster than him though and grabbed the bottle of scotch before Garp could reach it.

"But… it's never too late to try and seek forgiveness from him Garp." Sengoku said.

Garp froze for a second, contemplating Sengoku's words, before some of the light returned to his eyes. Sengoku was right! He could always apologize to Luffy, and do everything within his power to make it right again.

"Thank you, Sengoku."

Sengoku nodded to his friend before he made his way to the door. When he reached it, he hesitated for a moment before he turned back towards Garp.

"Before I forget… there's a meeting going on later at 3 o'clock sharp, and I expect you to be there… cleanly dressed, without a hangover, and smelling like you've actually showered." With that stated, Sengoku opened the door and left Garp alone.

After waiting for a few moments, making sure that Sengoku wouldn't come back into his quarters, Garp took a key from his pocket and unlocked the top drawer of his desk. Opening the drawer Garp pulled out a single framed photograph that had three people standing on a pristine beach. One of the men was Garp himself, he had his arm wrapped a tall young man who had shoulder length dark hair and in his arms was a newly born Monkey D. Luffy. Garp stared at the photo for a few seconds before he released a large sigh.

_'When did things go so wrong?'_

XXXXXX Mermaid Cove XXXXXX

'_Uhhhhh, where am I?'_

Luffy slowly opened his eyes before he snapped them shut.

'_Ahhh to bright!'_

Luffy waited for a few moments before he reopened them, momentarily allowing them to adjust the bright light. Luffy quickly scanned the area around him to see if he was alone. Determining that he was Luffy decided to examine his surroundings. The first thing that Luffy noticed was that he was sleeping inside of a giant clam; oddly enough there was a mattress and complete set of bedding inside the clam. Turning his head slightly to the side Luffy saw that there was a fully stocked kitchen that was, strangely half-submerged in water.

'_Arrgghh'_

A sharp pain in his head forced Luffy to place his hand to his forehead in an attempt to alleviate the pressure behind his eyes. After a few seconds the pain began to fade away and Luffy pulled his hand away from his hand, and that's when he noticed something odd. His hand was covered in green and red scales that ran all the way from his now armored shoulder to his pointed claws.

Deciding to get a better look at his new features Luffy crawled over to the edge of the bed and gazed at his reflection in the water, what he saw surprised him.

The majority of his upper body now possessed the distinctive red coloring and black lines of his full transformation. His arms were covered in hard, green scales that ran up towards his shoulders, which appeared to have green-scaled shoulder guards on them. What startled him the most though, was his face; it looked like a strange mix between his full transformation and his human form.

The coral spikes that had line his face had receded, allowing his mouth to be fully exposed. When he opened his mouth, Luffy saw that his teeth had been sharpened into triangular points, perfect for tearing meat apart. Another thing that had changed was his eyes; they were differently colored then they had been before. Instead of a pitch-black void, his sacral were a light-gray in color, while his irises had changed into a light shade of red.

He also noticed, somewhat absently, that both of his scars had appeared on his face.

Luffy then noticed another odd feature; his hair. His hair had returned to its original coloring, but there was a new red strip that circled his hair. The gray-haired boy looked up from his reflection, as he just noticed that he could still feel all of his tails.

Turning his head, Luffy could see that his tails, while as large as himself in his current form, were folded together. This gave his tails being the appearance of actually being one, single tail that looked to be as thick as a large pot.

"Ah, you're awake!" A feminine voice yelled out.

Luffy turned his head to the side to view the person that had just spoken and saw a very pretty mermaid that was a couple of years older than him.

"MAMA, DR. AKUDO HE'S AWAKE!" The young mermaid yelled out.

Two more people entered the house after the young mermaid had yelled for them.

The first person was a mermaid that looked just like the pretty mermaid he had first seen, except that she didn't have a fish's tail sprouting from her waist. Instead, she possessed eight slim, black-colored octopus tentacles that connected to her waist.

The second figure was much older and obviously male. He was fairly tall and slightly hunched over, with wrinkled, tan-colored skin. He also possessed a thick, bushy beard-and-mustache combo that reached to the middle of his chest. He was wearing a button-up doctor's uniform, complete with purple gloves.

"My goodness! How is it possible that you're awake so soon young man? You should still be asleep." The older man, who had to be Dr. Akudo, said as he set his doctor's bag down.

Luffy titled his head to the side, slightly confused by the doctor's words.

"Why shouldn't I be awake?" He asked, frowning. "I feel fine."

Luffy's answer only seemed to make the doctor more confused, as he was now looking at Luffy with an increasingly puzzled expression on his face.

"That's the thing my dear boy. You weren't this healthy when young Keimi here found you in the coral surrounding her mother's house. You were inside a crater with numerous injuries that were quite severe." Dr. Akudo explained, frowning. "You were also at death's door the other day due to sever starvation. If we hadn't hooked you up to an I.V. bag, then you would've been dead before the day's end."

Luffy's face paled drastically at the doctor's statement. He hadn't realized how close he had come to death because of his own doings.

Seeing how Luffy was becoming more depressed, the Octopus Mermaid quickly spook up as she walked over to the clam-bed.

"Is it okay if we ask you a few questions sweetie?" The Octopus Mermaid asked.

Luffy quickly shook away the shadows of depression that had started to form in his mind and forced himself to focus on the Octopus Mermaid next to him. He nodded to her question, causing a beautiful smile to form on her face.

"Can you tell us your name sweetie?" The Octopus Mermaid asked.

Luffy gave her a wide grin, unknowingly flashing his sharp, triangular teeth at the other occupants of the room.

"My name's Monkey D. Luffy!" He said, smiling widely. "It's nice to meet ya." The child's enthusiasm seemed to be infectious as everyone in the room began to smile as well. It was just that you couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"It's nice to meet you Luffy-kun, my name is Misuti. I think that you've already figured out that the man over there is Dr. Akudo." Mitsui said, gesturing towards the doctor. "And over there is my daughter, Keimi, and her friend Pappug. They were the ones that found you in the first place."

Luffy looked at the pretty mermaid, Keimi, and felt grateful to her. He gave her a wide grin, causing her to blush brightly.

"Wow, thanks Keimi-chan! You saved my life." Luffy said.

Keimi rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, her blush deepening from the praise that Luffy had given her. She hadn't done that much, so she didn't feel comfortable with him saying that she saved his life.

"Ah, it was nothing Luffy-san." Keimi stated.

Smiling at the heart touching scene, Dr. Akudo spoke up.

"Keimi-chan, why don't you and Luffy-kun go and play outside for a while."

Keimi visibly brightened at the prospect of making a new friend. With energetic glee Keimi grabbed Luffy and Pappug and dragged them out of the house.

"Come on Luffy-kun, me and Pappug can show you around the grotto."

Misuti smiled at Keimi's enthusiasm before she turned to Dr. Akudo with a serious expression on her face.

"Dr. Akudo, just what is Luffy-kun?"

Akudo sighed for a bit before he started rummaging through his hand bag.

"Honestly Misuti I don't know, Luffy is just one big mystery. The rate at which his wounds healed suggests that he possess extremely potent healing abilities that suggest he may be related to a Squid or Octopus Fishman. However, with that tail and his crab-like armor it appears that he may be related to a crustacean of some kind, ahha!"

Akudo pulled a large tube filled with a black viscous fluid from his bag. Misuti looked at the black liquid with both fascination and disgust in her eyes.

"Doctor…what is that liquid?"

"This, my dear is Luffy's blood."

Misuti's face immediately morphed into one of shock.

"WHAAAATTTTT!"

"Yes that was my reaction to when I drew some of his blood." Akudo started swirling the blood in the tube as he held it up to the light.

"Honestly, I have no idea what kind of fishman Luffy may be, but based on the most prominent on his features, I would say that Luffy is a…Chimera Turtle Fishman."

XXXXXXXX Marineford: Conference Room #2XXXXXXX

Within a massive conference room, all Marine personal that were ranked Vice-Admiral or above had gathered. They sat in two, even rows on both sides of an ornate table with the Commander-in-Chief, Kong, standing at the front of the room with a Projector Den-Den Mushi resting on a small stool beside him.

"I'm glad that everyone could be here for this meeting." Kong said, looking around the room. "Allow me to get straight to the point."

Kong took out a small device from the pocket of his white coat before pressing the top button, awakening the Projector Den-Den Mushi. A beam of light formed from the Den-Den Mushi's eye, casting 10-by-10 foot image on the wall nearest to Kong.

When this image came into proper focus, the Marines in the room began to murmur to themselves and their neighbors from the shock they were feeling. The image in question was of a half-sunken Tenryūbito ship, the majority of the middle and upper decks looking to have been vaporized. All around this ship were corpses of the crew, some looking as if they had been boiled alive.

The only question on everyone's minds, at that moment, was "what could have done this?"

"Approximately two weeks ago the Tenryūbito ship belonging to Uchiha Sasuke was attacked on its way through the Calm Belt. It was there that the ship was attacked and destroyed by an unknown type of sea beast. There was only one survivor." Kong stated.

Pressing the button again, the image on the screen shifted to a sterile hospital room with only one patient. The man, from what they could guess, was covered from head to toe in thick white bandages that were stained in some areas with an yellow puss that leaked from his burns.

"This is Petty-Officer Sharp, and he is the only survivor of the attack. From what he told us, during the initial attack, he was flung off his position in the crow's nest and landed in the ocean. Luckily he was fortunate enough to land far enough from the ship where he escaped the notice of whatever destroyed the ship. After the attack was over, Sharp pulled himself into a life boat that had the captain's Den-Den Mushi onboard. Before he called in for rescue he managed to get a picture of the creature that attacked them."

Pressing the button once again, the new image on the screen caused many people in the audience to pale. On the screen was a demon, for there was nothing else that it could be. The three tails that were frozen in the air, mid-motion, seemed to accent the twisted and malformed body that they were attached to.

It had the general shape of a large turtle but it was twisted and wrong. It was the size of a large elephant and it had an even larger shell on its back. The shell was odd; it appeared to be made of something similar to a crabs shell. The armor from the shell extended to cover all of its limbs. It had no legs, but it did have two large muscular arms that, oddly enough had a pair of hands with four fingers and an opposable thumb on each. Its underbelly was crimson red with black vertical lines that ran across his body from the tip of his tails to the bottom of his jaw.

Its head was the most horrifying part of the beast; its face was coved with spikes that looked like they were made from the sharpest coral. It had one of its eyes closed but the other one was something straight from a nightmare. The monster's scalar was like the void, draining the very life and hope of anyone who dared look at it, and its iris was as red as freshly drawn blood

It was the creature's eyes that let the Marines in the room know the true nature of the beast. Within the eyes of the monster were not the mindless instincts of a normal Sea King; this monster held an insane glint of enjoyment as it destroyed the marine ship.

"As you can see what we're dealing with is not some rouge Sea King. Whatever this creature is, it has the ability to completely ignore Sea Stone and it possesses frightening destructive capabilities." Kong said with a grim expression on his face. "In light of this, and due to the fact that a Tenryūbito was slain by the creature, the Gorosei have put a bounty on the beast. As of right now this beast, this Sanbi has a bounty of 200,000,000 Beri. DISMISSED!

Unknown to all a single vice-admiral was doing his very best not to break out in a cold sweat.

_'Oh Luffy, what have you done?_

XXX Fishman Island: The Sea Forest XXX

Life for Luffy had improved dramatically since his arrival at Fishman Island. His wounds healed quickly under Mitsui and Keimi's expert care and he also grew very close to the two mermaids. He started to see Mitsui as a caring, older sister-like figure and Keimi as the fun elder sister. When Keimi heard of this, her eyes had teared up before she asked if she could call him her brother. Luffy at been shocked at this question but he had agreed soon enough, leading to Keimi tackling him to the ground in an enormous hug. The only thing that Luffy could complain about in his new life was the fact that Mitsui was sending him to school.

Never having been to an actual school before, Luffy found himself confused about what he was supposed to do while in school. He solved this problem like he did other problems that came up; by hitting it through a wall with all of his strength.

The schoolyard bullies who wanted to pick on his odd appearance quickly found themselves with broken bones and bruises, courtesy of Luffy's impressive strength. After he had taken care of the bullies, he had become the top dogfish of the school by climbing over the bruised bodies of any bully that came after him. He had then begun to truly enjoy school life, the free lunches that they served at lunch time is what he enjoyed the most.

Today, the school had planned something really special; the children were going to meet the ruling family of Fishman Island and one of the strongest of the four Yonko, Whitebeard.

"Now children, please behave yourselves." Luffy's teacher said, looking at her charges, some were talking loudly, some were playing pranks on each other, and others were just taking naps. "Today is a very important day so you must all be on your best behavior."

Luffy sat on the head of a giant, yellow Manta Ray, watching as his teacher tried to restore order to a mob of unruly Fishman and Mermaid children.

A Yellow-Striped Tuna Merman child spoke up, trying to get the teacher's attention, "Ms. Shima, why is the Royal Family meeting with a Human pirate? I don't understand why… even it is a pirate like Whitebeard…"

Luffy titled his head slightly, moving towards his teacher so he could listen to Ms. Shima's response. He was curious to find out some answers about the man who was said to be as strong as the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger himself.

"Well, when they were much younger King Neptune and Whitebeard were nakama, so to keep their bonds strong they would meet once a year and share a drink; all the while reminiscing on days of their pasts. One day, when Whitebeard came to share drinks with King Neptune, he saw what other pirates and slavers were doing to his friend's nation." Ms. Shima explained, quieting the entire class. "Using his immense power, he immediately cast all other pirates and slavers out of the island and claimed it as his territory. So now even the most powerful pirates stay away from Fishman Island, for fear of invoking Whitebeard's wrath."

Most of the school children had looks of amazement on their faces, but Luffy did notice that some of them had looks of disgust on their faces. Luffy himself was only mildly interested in the rest of the story since he really didn't care for the impromptu history lesson.

After a few more minutes, the Sea Forest finally came into view. Luffy felt himself gasp in amazement, but not at the astounding beauty of the Sea Forest. No, he had gasped at a beautiful ship that he could see sitting within a clearing inside the forest.

It was massive, easily the biggest ship that Luffy had ever seen and it was also the oddest ship he had seen too. The entire ship was shaped like a giant white whale that was grinning from ear to ear. Oddly enough the ship looked like it could've been alive.

Besides the ship, next to a series of roots sticking up from the earth, sat a behemoth of a man that was hooked up to a large assortment of medical machines. The man wore a white coat over his shoulders as though it was a cape and he also had a black bandanna over his head and white baggy pants with a sash sticking out of the hem. The man's most distinguishing feature though was the white mustache on his face, as it was shaped like a crescent moon. This monster of a man could only be Whitebeard, for none but a Yonko could produce such an aurora of power.

All around the man were numerous other men and women, who were singing and dancing around crates and barrels full of delicious foods. Luffy noticed that oddly enough, they were all singing the same song that Shanks and his crew would sing from time to time, Bink's Sake if he remembered correctly. He then wondered that if these were the Whitebeard Pirates, then where was the Royal Family? The family's royal guard was already stationed around the forest so where were they?

Quickly glancing up at the sky, Luffy saw an enormous black whale wearing an ornate crown descending from the clouds. On the whale's back was an enormous merman with a long, magnificent red beard. On top of his head was a brilliant golden crown, obviously signifying his status as king. As the whale touched down onto the ground, four more figures became visible. Three of them appeared to be young mermen around Luffy's age, each of them having their own unique appearance.

The first one was very tall and thin merman, the tallest of the three mermen. He had wide eyes, long wavy hair, and beaver-like teeth the stuck out from his lips. He was wearing a fancy, robe-like garment with sleeves that were puffed at the shoulders and wrists.

The second merman was rotund, stocky and large, with a long polka-dotted tail. He wore a hat with a white strip going across the middle of it, and he also wore a sash across his shoulders, just like the other two mermen.

The third and final of the three mermen was large and muscular, with a wide chest and large arms. He had a long face, framed by wavy hair flowing down his shoulders, a sharp and pointy nose, and a dot in the middle of his forehead. He had gills on his massive neck and a polka-dotted tail. This merman wore a dark garment around his waist that was held up by an extremely long sash. To finish off his outfit, the male wore a long band, which passed over his shoulders, drawing a circle around the back of his neck, and fell down to his waist.

It was the person behind the three young, male fishmen that caught Luffy's attention, as she was the second largest figure of the group. While she did appear to be younger than him, she was also the biggest person in the clearing, with the exception of Whitebeard and King Neptune of course.

This young mermaid had shoulder length strawberry-blonde hair tied up with a fish-shaped hairgrip. She was wearing a polka-dot crop top with straps that floated behind her head with her broadly striped tail being larger than Luffy himself.

Seeing the Royal Family arrive, Whitebeard started to detach himself from the medical machines around him, much to the displeasure of the nurses by his side.

"Pops! You shouldn't just unplug yourself from your medical equipment so callously!" A black-haired Nurse exclaimed.

"No way am I going to meet my old nakama hooked up to a bunch of machines. I'm gonna stand tall and proud and greet him with open arms." Whitebeard responded.

With that stated, Whitebeard made his way towards the large, red-bearded Merman. He grasped the Merman's hand in a sign of friendship.

"Whitebeard my old friend, how are you doing these days?" King Neptune asked, looking over Whitebeard's shoulders at the assembled Pirate crew. "I see that you adopted a few more "kids" into your crew."

"Gura ra ra ra ra! Yeah, I found a few more sons and daughters on my recent exploits in the New World." Whitebeard responded before he looked towards the four children behind Neptune. "Are these your children then, my old friend?"

Neptune began to speak, but this time you could actually hear the smile in his voice as he began to introduce his children.

"Indeed they are my children, allow me to introduce them. This is my eldest Fukaboshi..."

The muscular merman child floated forward before he bowed before Whitebeard.

"It is an honor to meet you sir."

"My second eldest Ryuboshi..."

The thin merchild danced up besides his brother.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance..."

"My youngest son Manboshi…"

The round merchild made his way to stand with his brothers.

"Nice to meet ya."

"And finally my daughter Shirahoshi."

The large mermaid child shyly bowed her head to Whitebeard.

"How are you doing Whitebeard-Sama?"

"Gura ra ra ra. No need for formalities little one; your father is a good friend of mine so you don't need to add honorifics."

Whitebeard then turned his eyes towards the gawking class of students, seeing how most of them were looking at the Royal Family and his crew. He then turned to face his crew, the edges of his mouth curling upwards, before he opened his mouth.

"Well boys, let's show these brats what real Pirates look like, eh?"

"Aye, aye Pops!"

XXXXXX

(Five Minutes later)

_'Well, I'm bored.'_ Luffy thought

For the past five minutes, Whitebeard's crew had been doing various stunts and tricks to entertain his classmates.

A very large, black-haired man had juggled some kids for a bit before he displayed his Devil Fruit power. It was interesting to watch as the man's skin and clothing turn into diamonds, before the man used a diamond-coated arm to pulverize a boulder into dust.

The next person Luffy saw was also very tall and round, with a scraggly black beard, he was handing out pizzas to the school chidren. Luffy had eaten six pieces of the Meat-Lover's Pizza, as he practically adored anything that had a lot of meat with it. What? He was a growing boy; he needed food.

However, the man that interested Luffy the most was a normal-sized man with an orange Mohawk and a pink vest. This man had displayed his Devil Fruit, which allowed him to transform into a massive bird made of bluish-yellow flames. It was in his bird form that this man preformed several aerial acrobatics and other tricks, awing the class time after time.

Unfortunately, even the orange-haired man didn't keep Luffy's attention for long. He supposed that the awe at seeing a man become a beast went away, shortly after he had eaten his own Devil Fruit.

_'What to do, what to do?'_ Luffy sighed, looking around. _'I wish I could train some, maybe then- Hello… what's this?'_

A little ways off from all the merriment sat Princess Shirahoshi. Her brothers weren't with her as they were currently enjoying a tale about the Grand Line from one of Whitebeard's crew members,

When Luffy drew close to Princess Shirahoshi, he noticed something very familiar in her eyes. It was the same thing he had noticed in his own eyes when he thought about Sabo; the pain of loss.

_'Those eyes… they're just like mine.'_

Silently slipping away from the crowd of children, Luffy made his way over to the princess without anyone noticing. When he finally reached Princess Shirahoshi, he used his tails to push himself upwards, to be at eye-level with the large princess.

"Hi!"

"EEEPP!"

Princess Shirahoshi jumped at the unfamiliar voice behind her, whirling around to see who was there. It was an odd-looking fishman child. The first thing she noticed about him was the fact that the boy's entire body was covered in green scales that ran from his shoulders to his tips of his fingers. She then noticed that he had a couple of scars on his face and bit her lip, absently wondering how he had gotten them. Another odd thing about the odd fishman child was that he had a long tail and a pair of legs; usually fishmen didn't have any tails, only a pair of webbed feet. Shirahoshi then blushed heavily when she realized that the boy was still staring at her, waiting for her response.

"H-hello."

Luffy grinned at the princess's shy response, showing off his sharp, triangular teeth the strawberry-blonde.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy! What's yours?" Luffy said.

"M-my name is S-shirahoshi, Luffy-sama." Princess Shirahoshi responded.

Luffy's smile grew before he used his tails to move in closer to the princess, "That's a really pretty name, Shirahoshi. Do you want to play with me?"

Shirahoshi blushed.

"A-alright."

Luffy started to bounce up and down, though his tails stayed firm on the ground. It was a comical sight that brought a small smile to Princess Shirahoshi's face before she covered it with one of her hands.

"Awesome!"

XXXXXX

(Whitebeard P.O.V.)

Whitebeard watched as King Neptune's daughter, Princess Shirahoshi, as she made a new friend in that odd-looking Fishman child. He then turned to face King Neptune with a smile, though he did keep one eye on the princess.

"Well Neptune, it looks like your little girl has made a new friend." Whitebeard said.

King Neptune turned his head to look at his daughter, seeing her playing with a Fishman child that he hadn't seen before. It made him happy to see her so happy, especially after his beloved Otohime's death.

"It's good to see that she can still be happy like that…" King Neptune stated with a sigh. "Ever since she saw her mother die, Shirahoshi has been really depressed. In fact, this is the first time I've seen her laugh since the incident."

Neptune stared at his daughter's smiling face for a while before he shifted his attention to the child that she was playing with. The smile on his bearded face slipped off.

"That's… odd."

Whitebeard's hand paused mid-way from taking another drink of his sake, turning towards his old friend.

"What's odd?" Whitebeard asked.

Neptune was silent for a moment before he finally spoke up, "That young Fishman that Shirahoshi is playing with… I don't recognize what kind he is."

This was surprising to hear as King Neptune had made it a policy to know most every kind of Fishmen and Mermen on Fishman Island. Looking at the young Fishman more closely, Whitebeard could definitely see what his old friend was talking about. The child looked like he had been made from multiple types of oceanic life that had been fused together into a single being.

Whitebeard was about to speak up when something entered his Kenbushoku Haki field. When he looked up, Whitebeard could see something flying from out of the Sea Forest. He allowed it to get closer so that he could see what the object was with his failing eye-sight.

As the object came into clarity, Whitebeard's eyes widened at what he saw.

"Neptune there's an axe heading in this direction."

Eyes widening at his friend's warning, King Neptune quickly tracked the axe to its intended target. He felt cold as he realized that the axe's target was his daughter.

"Shirahoshi, look out!"

XXXXXX

(Luffy P.O.V.)

"Shirahoshi, look out!"

Shirahoshi looked up when she heard her father's warning, seeing the axe that was flying straight towards her. Luffy also saw the axe flying towards his friend, knowing that if he didn't do something, Shirahoshi would die. Just like Sabo.

**'No, not again.'**

Following some sort of internal instinct, Luffy leapt in front of his new friend and uncurled all three of his tails. Water drawn from the air began to converge at the tips of his tails, merging to form a large, circular mirror; a reflection of the incoming axe in the middle of the mirror. Luffy grabbed the top of the mirror with one of his tails and pulled it down with a snarl.

**"Sution: Mizagagami no jutsu (Water Release: Water Mirror Technique)!"**

Amazingly, the reflection on the mirror didn't move with the rest of the mirror. Instead, another large axe emerged from the mirror and collided with its real-world counterpart, sending it careening off to the side while the reflection was reduced into water.

Shirahoshi could only watch in amazement as her savior stand in front of her. All of his three tails seemed to be swaying protectively over her, which caused tears to form in the edges of her eyes.

"L-Luffy-sama?"

Luffy turned to her with an expression of worry on his face before he began to frantically check her over for any injuries.

**"Are you alright, Shira-chan?"** Luffy asked.

Shirahoshi blushed at Luffy's obvious concern for her but, before she could speak up, another voice interrupted her.

"Shirahoshi, are you alright?"

Turning slightly, Shirahoshi could see her father and brothers rushing towards her with concern and worry clearly present on their features.

"I'm alright father… thanks to Luffy-sama." Shirahoshi said.

Neptune turned to Luffy and bowed deeply in front of the young Fishman, "Thank you for saving my daughter young man. I am in your debt."

The three Princes then joined their father in bowing towards Luffy.

"Thank you for saving our baby sister, Luffy-san."

Luffy, unused to such praise, merely grinned and scratched the back of his head embarrassedly. How did he end up in this situation again?

"It's alright; I was just protecting my new friend, Shira-chan!" Luffy said.

"Gura ra ra ra, you're being way to modest young man." Whitebeard chuckled as he approached. "What you did was quite remarkable."

Luffy looked at the large man and offered up another sharp smile to the man that was complimenting him.

"Ahh thanks ojisan, but honestly, I was only protecting my nakama."

Luffy's answer seemed to please Whitebeard even more.

"Gura ra that's a wonderful answer brat; say, Luffy was it? Why don't you join my crew?"

Everyone in the sea forest clearing was shocked into silence at Whitebeards sudden offer to Luffy; but none were more shocked then Whitebeard's own crew.

"POPS! Are you crazy? He's just a kid, there's no way he could survive in someplace as dangerous as the New World." The man with the orange Mohawk exclaimed as he waved his arms frantically.

"Now Marco half of you weren't ready for a place like the New World at first, but you all learned to survive in it. Besides we haven't even heard the young brat's answer."

Everyone turned to Luffy who had a look of extreme concentration on his face, obviously mulling the question over in his mind. After a few seconds the look of concentration disappeared from his face and Luffy once again unfurled his three tails, using them as a base so he can be taller. Once he was at full height Luffy inhaled a large breath, to accept the proposition as most of the people thought. What he really said though nearly gave everyone a heart attack.

"NO WAY OJISAN!"

Everyone in the clearing, from the school children to the crew of Whitebeard himself, had looks of extreme shock on their faces; Whitebeard just laughed.

The large man that could turn into diamonds was the first to recover.

"W-Why not kid? Pops is the closest to becoming the Pirate King so why wouldn't you want to be a part of his crew?"

"That's the whole point though." Everyone's faces went right back to being confused.

"You said it yourself; Whitebeard is the closest to becoming the Pirate King. I could never become a member of your crew because…"

Everyone leaned in a bit more so they could hear the reason why someone would deny the offer to join the crew of Whitebeard himself.

With power and determination in his voice Luffy yelled out his dream.

"**I WILL BECOME THE PIRATE KING! And that means that one day I have to beat you to accomplish my dream!"**

All was quiet as no-one could comprehend the fact that a young fishman child had just declared that he would defeat whitebeard one day.

"Zehahaha I like this kid pops, he's got spirit."

XXXX In the Sea ForestXXXX

Unbeknownst to all one of the family's royal guard had slipped away from the clearing with all of the confusion and was now watching young Luffy with unconcealed interest.

"To have such control of water at such a young age…how interesting. I believe that you'll make a wonderful part of the fishman pirates Monkey D. Luffy, JAHAHAHAHAHA."

* * *

><p><strong>Techniques<strong>:**  
><strong>1.Sution: Mizagagami no jutsu (Water Release: Water Mirror Technique): The user creates a large, flat, circular pool of water in front of their opponent. Its surface acts like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the attacking targets. By then hooking onto and rotating the 'mirror' 90° with their tail, the reflections emerge and materialise from the mirror, where they collide with the mirrored targets. As these reflections use the exact same techniques as the enemy regardless of its type, they counter their respective target's attack completely, while repelling them in the process. However, upon impact, the reflections disperse back into water.

**And that is the final bit bit for Sanbi, next is Yonbi, Molten Rage.  
><strong>


	5. Yonbi, Molten Rage

**A/N: **Hello everyone this is Sharkteeth sorry this is late but with college finals and with a deadline for posting this before the holidays I've been a little rushed. But remember please do leave some reviews and Santa will leave you something nice. Oh and please check out my profile to check out some of my challenges if you're interested, especially the last challenge.

"Gum-Gum Jet Gatling Gun"-Someone talking.

'_Rasengan barrage"_-Someone thinking.

"Ho-Ho-Ho Naruto, Luffy stop fighting now or you'll be on the naughty list"-Techniques being used

"**Hmm, no stop sending me coal fat man."**-Demon talking.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto; on the other hand I would like to own a Yami-Yami Fruit from Santa

* * *

><p>XXXXXX<p>

**Chapter Four: The Yonbi: Molten Rage;**

XXXXXX

Deep within the Calm Belt was a prison that was said to be a hell on Earth, one that none could escape from. This place was known only as Impel Down; the World Government's maximum-security prison for only the most dangerous criminals and pirates.

Recently Impel down has been the host to a very notorious pirate, who had been captured by the new Shichibukai, Blackbeard, merely a week ago. This unfortunate pirate was commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division, a man by the name of "Fire Fist" Ace. He was an exceptional pirate with the power of the Mera-Mera Fruit and the training of his grandfather, the famous marine Monkey D. Garp. He, like everyone else on Whitebeard's crew, is considered to be a flesh and bone son by Whitebeard himself.

Now that the "son" of Whitebeard was incarcerated at the bottom level of Impel Down, and with his public execution at Marineford only a few days away, there seemed to be no hope for him. Or…was there?

Unbeknownst to all, it was on this very day that Impel Down shall be besieged by the very person could destroy it with his molten rage.

XXXXXX

-Impel Down: Loading Docks-

Disembarking from a Vice-Admiral's ship was a beauty unlike any other in the entire world. She was much taller than any average woman, standing about six feet, three inches, but her height only seemed to enhance her exotic beauty, making her seem almost like a looming goddess. Her figure was perfectly balanced with a pair of long legs, a generous bust, and long ebony locks that flowed to her hips. With the face of an angel and eyes of ice, everyone would recognize the woman for her beauty, as the "Pirate Empress" Boa Hancock, one of the infamous Shichibukai.

Standing on both sides of the loading docks were lines of Marines that had hearts in their eyes as they stared un-shamefully at the "Pirate Empress". They were going gaga over the entrancing woman, as they had never seen anyone more beautiful than her.

"Oh my Kami! She's so beautiful!"

"She's more beautiful than any mermaid…"

Boa merely scoffed at their comments as she continued to walk across the pier, following the Vice-Admiral in front of her. When the pair reached the gated entrance to Impel Down, the Vice-Admiral snapped off a quick salute to the gate-guard. The gate-guard saluted back before picking up the receiver for a Den-Den Mushi that was attached to the wall, "This is the guard at the main entrance. Please open the gates; Boa Hancock is here to see "Fire Fist" Ace."

After a garbled response from the other end of the receiver, the gate started to rise. Once it had fully risen, Boa and the Vice-Admiral began walking into the one place that could be considered a true "hell on earth".

_'This is it Luffy-kun.'_

XXXXXX

-Impel Down-

The first thing Boa noticed when she entered was that the air was heavier than usual, almost as if the very air was trying to take her breath away. Stepping further into the prison, she soon found herself facing the strangest person that she had ever seen.

"Welcome to my Impel Down."

The man before her was very tall, almost twice the size of the Vice-Admiral that she had been travelling with. Strangely enough, he looked like a devil of some sort with horn-like eyebrow along with a large rectangular chin. He was wearing a black sash around his waist with the symbol of Impel Down emblazed across it and a pair of black dress shoes. He was also wearing an odd-looking headdress that looked as if it had been stolen off a mummy in a museum somewhere. To complete his appearance, this man had a large potbelly that, for some reason, looked right on him.

Next to this man was an extremely attractive blonde-haired woman wearing the standard attire for a member of the Impel Down staff.

"Did I say "my" Impel Down? Sorry, that was my mistake; I was being too ambitious again. I am the Vice-Warden of Impel Down, Hannyabal." The headdress-wearing man said before extending his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

The Vice-Admiral that had been escorting Boa walked forward so that he could shake the Vice-Warden's hand, "It is an honor to meet you Vice-Warden. I am Vice-Admiral Momonga."

After shaking hands with the Vice-Admiral, Hannyabal turned his attention to the impatient "Pirate Empress". He had a noticeable blush on his face as he looked at her cold expression.

"And you must be the "Pirate Empress", Hancock-dono. It is an honor for you to visit my prison. I'm sorry, I said "my" prison again, but one day it will be."

Boa scoffed at Hannyabal's attempt to compliment and/or impress her, turning her head in a dismissive manner and casually flipping a stray lock of hair over her shoulder.

"Save your compliments for someone who would care for them, for I do not."

"GASP!"

It seemed that Boa's putdown was too much for the Vice-Warden, as it appeared to have turned him into a stone statue. The blonde woman, seeing that her superior was indisposed of, decided that she better take over the rest of the entrance procedure.

"Hancock-dono, if you would please follow me, we can proceed with the rest of the entrance procedure."

Boa was silent for a moment before she nodded and began following the blonde-haired woman, "Very well then, I wish to finish this business as soon as possible and be away from this awful place."

When both ladies had rounded the corner, and were out of sight, Hannyabal returned to his original ambitious self.

"That Hancock woman sure is amazing… I can't wait till I'm the Warden." Hannyabal stated aloud with no one but the Vice-Admiral to hear him.

All of a sudden, one of the pockets within Hannyabal's sash started to ring rather loudly. Hannyabal looked down at the offending pocket before he pulled out a baby Den-Den Mushi out of his pocket, which was wailing quite loudly. He pressed the button on top of the snail's shell, and the snail's wailing ceased. Making sure that he was speaking in his best "Warden" voice Hannyabal began to speak.

"This is the War—I mean Vice-Warden Hannyabal. What's the situation?" Hannyabal asked the small mushi.

The baby Den-Den Mushi opened its eyes and began to speak in reply to Hannyabal, "This is Chief-Guard Saldeath sir. There is something wrong going on with the blugori."

Hannyabal's face instantly became serious, a far cry from his previous expression. If something was wrong with the blugori, the very backbone of Impel Down's security force, then there was no time to be joking around.

"What's wrong with them?" Hannyabal asked.

The Den-Den Mushi was silent for a second before the person on the other end began to speak up, "It's odd sir... they're tense, fidgety even. It's like they're waiting for something, sir."

Hannyabal was silent after Saldeath's statement, for it really did startle him. The fact that the blugori started acting strange the day of "Fire Fist" Ace's scheduled transport to Marine ford, and also on the day of Boa Hancock's arrival, was very worrisome indeed. If something happened today, then his chances of becoming the Warden were almost nonexistent.

XXXXXX

-Impel Down: Inspection Room-

After following the blonde guard to the inspection room, Boa took a quick look around to assess the security in the room.

_'Hmmm, a single surveillance Den-Den Mushi in the corner of the room and the guard in the center of the room… this is almost too easy. I think that I'm almost insulted by how little they expect of me.'_ Boa thought to herself.

The blonde guard started rummaging through one of the cabinets before she pulled out a pair of sea-stone handcuffs, "I must apologize Hancock-dono, but you will have to wear these handcuffs while I preform the body check."

Seeing her chance, Boa decided to take it. With a small blush on her face, and the expression of a kicked puppy, Boa turned towards the guard with the handcuffs in her outstretched hands.

"Please be gentle." Boa whispered cutely.

The guard and the surveillance Den-Den Mushi immediately began to blush at the cute expression on Boa's face. They were so caught up in it they didn't notice that they had left themselves vulnerable to an attack.

"Mero Mero Mellow (Falling-Down Drunk Sweet Wind)"

With her hands in the traditional "heart" shape, Boa used her Devil-Fruit to launch a pink beam of the shape. This beam quickly overcome both the surveillance Den-Den Mushi and the blonde guard, petrifying them before they even had a chance to move. This left Boa alone with her snake-weapon, Salome. Or were they?

"The coast is clear Luffy-kun." Boa said.

Hancock's dress began to wiggle for a bit before a pair of hands lifted the front edge of the dress then a figure stepped out from underneath it soon afterwards.

This figure was tall, almost as tall as Hancock herself, with tanned skin and wild untamed red and black hair. His black eyes sparkled with mischief as he scratched at a scar underneath his left eye, a remnant of a wound that he had inflicted upon himself at a young age.

He was wearing a long-sleeved gray undershirt and over that a set of Kevlar armor that had been tattered from multiple battles. He was also wearing a pair of shinobi-style pants that were tied into his steel-toed boots. To complete his outfit, this man wore black fingerless gloves on his hand and a straw-hat on his head.

This man could only be the legendary "Straw-Hat" Luffy; the man that had destroyed Enies Lobby and had forced a Marine Admiral to flee.

"Man that sure was close. They would've caught me for sure if you hadn't done that Boa-chan." Luffy said with a grin on his face.

A pink blush appeared on Boa's cheeks as she felt her heartbeat quicken because of Luffy's sign of affection. The ice in her eyes started to melt as she graced him with a true smile. However, that smile soon fell off of her face as she became ashamed.

"I'm sorry Luffy-kun, but it looks like I won't be able to take you down to the lower levels."

Luffy didn't seem too worried about his now-longer trek through Impel Down as he released a large yawn. After Luffy finished yawning he began to look around the room to see if he could find anything that he could use as he made his way through Impel Down.

"Don't worry Boa-chan; I doubt anything here could even slow me down when I really get going." Luffy replied as he rummaged through a drawer full of seastone handcuffs.

Boa's face quickly morphed into one of concern as she began to scold Luffy over his overconfidence in the matter at hand, "Luffy-kun you really shouldn't be so arrogant. Impel Down was built for the sole purpose of keeping the strongest and most evil pirates locked away forever. You're not only trying to break your brother out of this place, but you're also going to have to make your way to him without getting caught."

Boa paused in her speech as she glanced over to towards the petrified surveillance Den-Den Mushi with a worried look in her eyes.

"… We need to hurry up Luffy-kun; if I keep this Mushi petrified any longer, the guards may get suspicious."

Luffy nodded for a second before, just like his namesake, he began to scale the ceiling pillars like a monkey in the trees. Once he was out of the line of sight for both the petrified guard and the Den-Den Mushi, he gave Boa an upside-down thumbs-up.

"Okay Boa-chan, I'm ready. Unfreeze the guard and be prepared to get as far away once you've seen Ace." Luffy said.

Boa nodded before she raised her hands towards the two petrified beings in front of her, ready to unfreeze them. She paused for a moment before she returned her attention to Luffy.

"Luffy-kun… just promise me that you'll be careful." Boa implored.

Luffy gave her a lopsided grin that showed no worry over the current situation. His eyes on the other hand had lost their mischievousness instead it was replaced by a malicious fire that threatened to burn everything in its path.

"Don't worry Boa-chan; I'll be as quiet as a mouse."

XXXXXX

-Impel Down: Outside of the Inspection Room-

Standing outside of the Inspection Room was Vice-Warden Hannyabal who was silently contemplating his acceptance speech for when he would become Warden. Just when he was getting to his favorite part, kicking Magellan out of Impel Down, his baby Den-Den Mushi began to ring again, snapping him out of his day dream.

Wondering who could be interrupting his fantasy at such a crucial moment of planning, Hannyabal answered the wailing Den-Den Mushi.

"This is Vice-Warden Hannyabal, go ahead." Hannyabal said.

The Den-Den Mushi began to speak in a male voice with the sound of numerous people typing in the background.

"This is the Control Room, sir; the cameras in the Inspection Room have gone dark. We aren't getting any response from Vice-Guard Domino either."

Hannyabal was silent for a second before he turned to knock on the door to the Inspection Room, "Vice-Guard Domino? Are you alright in there; is everything okay?"

Not even a second later the door was opened allowing Hancock, with a pair of Sea-stone handcuffs on her wrists, to walk out with Salome at her heels. Vice-Guard Domino then walked out of the room with a slightly dazed expression on her face. Hannyabal quickly peaked inside the room for any signs of a struggle. Seeing none, Hannyabal turned his attention back to the "Pirate Empress" just as his baby Den-Den Mushi went off again.

"Vice-Warden Hannyabal, the picture has just returned. The surveillance Den-Den Mushi may have just token a nap like always."

Hannyabal merely grumbled something about "lazy snails" and "damn Animal Rights laws" before he turned his head towards Boa.

"I apologize for the extreme measures Boa-dono, but this is the standard procedure3 for anyone who visits Impel Down." Hannyabal said.

Boa did not acknowledge Hannyabal's reassurance as she flipped a stray lock of her ebony hair over her shoulder.

"Let us hurry then, the sooner we complete this visit the sooner I can be out of these handcuffs and away from this dreadful place."

Hannyabal was once again turned into stone at Boa's dismissal of, what one day would be, his Impel Down. He felt a great many of his personal fantasies shatter like a glass window at the cold words of the Shichibukai. Unnoticed by all, except for the frowning female Shichibukai, a shadow swiftly made its way across the ceiling towards the stairwell.

XXXXXX

-Impel Down: Stairwell-

_'For being an inescapable fortress, this place is way too easy to get into.'_ Luffy thought.

For the past few minutes Luffy had been scaling the roof of Impel Down with a sense of stealth that he didn't know that he had, making extra sure he was not seen by any of the patrolling guards.

_'I'd never thought I'd say this… but it was a good thing Grandpa put me through that training from hell.'_

Indeed, ever since Luffy had eaten his Devil-Fruit, Garp had decided that he should increase the pace of his grandson's training. One of his favorite training lessons was hide-and-go-seek, but instead of seeking, Garp would throw cannon-balls at Luffy if he wasn't stealthy enough.

Having an eighty-pound cannon ball rocketing towards you at over a hundred miles an hour had quickly forced Luffy to learn a few tricks so that he could avoid his grandfather. One of the tricks he had learned was that people rarely looked above them if they aren't expecting anything to come from above.

_'Okay Luffy, you can do this. Just follow the guards and they should lead you straight to Ace.' _Luffy thought.

Luffy followed the guards to a large, spiral staircase that he believed would lead him into the lower bowels of Impel Down. The black-haired pirate increased his pace, determined to get to his brother Ace as soon as he could.

_'Hang on Ace, I'm coming for you!'_

XXXXXX

-Impel Down: Level Six-

The lowest level of Impel Down was reserved for criminals whose crimes were so monstrous that they were effectively erased from history. However, not all of the prisoners residing there had committed such crimes; some people were there because the World Government just wanted them gone.

Portgas D. Ace was an example of a Pirate that the World Government wanted gone. With less than one day to his public execution, all Ace could think about was his life and all of the mistakes he had made.

_'Luffy, Sabo… I'm so sorry. I got caught because I underestimated Teach, and now you and Whitebeard are going to risk your lives for mine. This never would've happened if I wasn't alive in the first place…'_

As Ace sank deeper and deeper into his depression, his cellmate could only look on it pity at the broken man. He would say something if he believed it would help the man regain his lost spirit, but he had no idea what to say.

XXXXXX

-Impel Down: Processing Level-

Luffy had been making his way across the ceiling for five minutes before he came upon the first of the cellblocks with actual prisoners within them. As an added bonus, there were no guards anywhere in his line of sight.

_'Finally, maybe I can find out where Ace is being kept.'_

With that thought Luffy released his hold on the ceiling before dropping to the floor, not making a single sound as his feet touched the ground. Unfortunately, the sight of him dropping from the ceiling caused a bit of a racket from the prisoners within cells nearest to him.

"WHAT?"

"Who is THAT? Another guard?" "Don't be stupid! Look at his clothes; he's obviously not a guard."

Ignoring the rabble of the various prisoners, Luffy walked up to one of the cells. As he walked, his hands began to glow a fiery red with the air around them shimmering like a mirage.

"Okay inmates, let's play a little game. The name of the game is "Who can tell me where Portgas D. Ace is?" The prize for the winner is getting out of your cells and one step closer to actual freedom."

The prisoners inside the cell were somewhat stunned at his bluntness, but that soon faded away. They all began to talk about where they assumed Ace to be at, though many of them had no idea who Portgas D. Ace even was.

A large man with a scar that stretched across his face stepped forward and gripped the bars of his cell tightly as he answered Luffy, "Portgas D. Ace… you mean "Fire Fist" Ace?"

Luffy's face took on a small grin as he finally found someone who could give him some information. He could tell all the others were lying or simply shouting out answers, as they wanted out.

"Yep, that's right. I came here to rescue him." Luffy said.

For some reason the scared prisoner thought that Luffy's statement was funny since he started to laugh in that deep baritone voice of his.

"BUAHAHAHAHAHA! You're here to rescue him? That's impossible!" The scared man laughed.

Unseen by the prisoner, the temperature of Luffy's hands continued to rise with his ever-mounting anger. He mentally debated whether he should kill the man before him.

_'I could fry this guy right here, but that would create too much panic… something I don't need at this point. On the other hand, this guy is pissing me off!'_ Luffy thought.

Just as Luffy was about to melt the man into a pile of flaming goop, the voice of a prisoner from the cage behind him spoke up.

"If you're looking for "Fire Fist" Ace, then you should head down to Level Five. That's where they put all of the really dangerous people; the ones with bounties of 100,000,000 Beri… but you'll never get there. It's impossible."

"Yeah, there's just no way to get to Ace. So why don't you just go to the guard station and get the keys for our cells?" Another prisoner spoke up, trying to convince Luffy to free them. The cries for freedom became louder and louder until a single question made them all go silent.

"Hey, who are you Onii-san?"

Everyone went silent at the question as they all wanted to know the answer to the question. Luffy looked at the prisoner who had asked the question with a blank stare, mentally debating whether or not he should answer. Eventually, the grin returned to his face as he answered.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm here to save my brother."

At the sound of his name all of the prisoners immediately backed away from the bars and deeper into their cells, fear written all over their faces.

"M-M-Monkey D. L-Luffy? The "Infinite Rage"? The same man who reduced Enis Lobby to a crater and forced Admiral Aokiji to flee? You're that Monkey D. Luffy?"

Luffy's grin got wider as he heard one of his past accomplishments; his eyes began to burn with a malicious glee. He remembered that time well, and relished in the destruction that he had caused those who tried to hurt his nakama.

"Yeah, those were the good times. I still get shivers when I remember the look on Aokiji's face as I burned his oh-so precious Marine coat to ashes." Luffy said with glee in his voice.

Many of the prisoners looked like they were going to keel over from fright at his expression from remembering the time he destroyed the Admiral's coat and getting away with it. A few of them would have if a startled yell hadn't taken their attention off of him.

"NNYYAAGGHHH!"

"Oh crap, it's the blugori! Run for it Onii-san!"

Luffy turned his head towards a very odd sight; a man was running away from what looked like blue ghosts with large battle axes. He didn't really get a good look at the man because his attention was more drawn towards the "ghosts".

They were tall, standing at about ten feet tall, and had exceptionally thick arms. These "ghosts" also had dark blue cloaks over their bodies with black fringes at the bottom and a black skull with yellow eyes on the head of their cloaks. They had oddly shaped hands that gripped a large double sided battle axe. Luffy was about to take a look at the man when one of the blue creatures bisected him in two with its axe. Judging from the look of terror on the other prisoners these must be the blugori.

Luffy decided that getting into a fight before he found out where Ace would be detrimental to his chances of getting this rescue to work. As he turned to run away from the blugori, he noticed that the two halves of the man continued to run alongside him.

"Dang, I got cut in half! It's too hard to run like this!"

With a popping sound, the two halves of the body rejoined together and formed a very familiar pirate-clown.

"Gyahahahahahaha! You idiots can't cut me!"

The pirate-clown was wearing the standard prisoner jumpsuit, which was slightly scuffed and ragged. He had set of crossbones tattooed onto his forehead that crossed across his eyes. The oddest things about him was the fact that he had long blue hair done up in a pony-tail and a large red nose where a normal one should be.

Luffy knew who this was because he has had the unfortunate pleasure of fighting him before, "Hello Buggy." Luffy said in the most deadpan voice that he could.

The now-named man literally went to pieces from the surprise at seeing his old enemy running right next to him.

"STRAW HAT? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Buggy demanded.

Luffy was nonplused at Buggy's surprise and just continued running away from the two blugori that were chasing him.

"Well, as of right now, I'm breaking into impel Down." Luffy said.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT! Unless…" Buggy's eyes started to swell with unshed tears, "You heard I was in jail and came to rescue me?"

Like flipping a switch, Buggy's tears dried up and he became enraged—yelling at Luffy once more, "LIKE HELL I WOULD BELIEVE THAT!"

Luffy was annoyed at Buggy's outburst, so he turned to yell at the angered clown-pirate.

"Well, I WAS trying to SNEAK IN here but because of YOU… THAT WON'T BE POSSIBLE ANYMORE!" Luffy shouted.

The blade of an axe fell between them, forcing them to jump away from each other. When they landed, they saw that they were surrounded on all sides by the blugori. Momentarily putting their differences aside they stood back to back, both ready to take down the enemies in front of them.

"Straw Hat what do you say if we put our differences aside for now?" That was what Buggy said, what he was thinking though was_. 'If I could use Straw hat's monstrous strength for my own use, then getting out of here will be a cinch._'

Luffy was contemplating Buggy's suggestion for a second before he nodded his head, "Fine, if we work together for now then the chances of completing our goals increase."

Buggy's grin got wider at Luffy acceptance for an alliance. Now nothing would stop him from escaping Impel Down.

"He he, I knew that you would see it my way Straw Hat." Buggy said.

With that both fighters leapt at their respective blugori with their fists raised, both ready for battle.

XXXXXX

-Buggy's battle-

Standing in front of a bugori, Buggy was trying to figure out he could defeat it with his limited strength and current skillset.

_'Let's see… I have to take care of this one while Straw hat takes care of the other three.'_ Buggy thought as he jumped back, avoiding a fist that would've caved his face in.

Buggy then proceeded to dodge a sucker punch to the face, even as the blugori's axe decapitated him. It then overextended itself when it went to split his chest in two, causing Buggy's eyes to widen.

_'That's it! The next time it overextends itself, I can take it down.'_ Buggy thought.

With that thought, a plan began to take form in Buggy's mind. He prepared himself for the next time the blugori would swing its axe at him.

XXXXXX

-Luffy's battle-

Charging into battle against the three blugori, Luffy expected many things to happen. What he didn't expect was for them to immediately drop to their axes and kneel before him.

**'Well… this is unexpected.' **Luffy thought.

One of the blugori raised its head so that the black skull was staring directly at Luffy's face, a rough voice then began speaking from underneath its cloak.

**"Lord Yonbi, is that you? Have you finally returned to this plane of existence?" **The Blugori asked.

This was one of those rare moments when Luffy actually found himself stunned into silence. After all, it wasn't every day that a gorilla started talking to you. It was a few seconds after this that Luffy grinned a grin that promised all kinds of untold chaos in the future.

Transferring a bit of his ambient power into his throat Luffy could feel his voice box changing, **"Indeed, I am the Yonbi and I have returned to the mortal realm in the form that you see before you."**

The three blugori bowed even lower as their hands became clasped before them as if in prayer.

**"Lord Yonbi, you have finally returned to us. After the Great War, we of the Gorilla Clan had lost hope that you would ever return to us. But now that we can sense your power in that human shell of yours, the Gorilla Clan will rejoice and serve under you once more."**

Luffy could definitely see the use of having the blugori as his servants, but he didn't need them to follow him just yet. They would be more useful if Impel Down's staff didn't know they were working for him, thus allowing him to use them against Impel Down when he broke out Ace.

**"I accept your offer of servitude once more, but… I will need you continue with the jobs that the humans have assigned to you. I am to rescue a prisoner here who is being held on the lowest level." **Luffy ordered. **"Once I have freed him from his cell, you shall assist me in getting out of this prison. Until then you must pretend that we are enemies and attack me and my companions."**

The blugori seemed to hesitate for a second before they all picked up their axes and charged a smirking Luffy, **"YOUR WILL BE DONE LORD YONBI!"**

Luffy's grin widened as he returned their charge with his own, a light coating of lava covering his fists. He would pull his punches so that he wouldn't kill his new servants, but that didn't mean that he would leave them unharmed. The plan now relied on the blugori being defeated by him, which meant he had to knock them unconscious for now.

_'I love it when a plan comes together.' _Luffy thought.

XXXXXX

-Back to Buggy-

After dodging a few more of the blugori's punches Buggy knew that it was time to initiate his plan.

"Hey you big dumb gorilla why don't you just get lost and go find a banana to chew on."

That seemed to anger the blugori as it gipped the base of its axe and tried to decapitate Buggy with a herculean strike. Right when the axe was about to make Buggy a foot shorter, Buggy began his plan.

"Bara Bara Kinkyū Esukēpu (Chop Chop Emergency Escape)!"

Like a small rocket, Buggy's head flew from his body and started hovering a good twenty feet in the air. Unfortunately for the blugori with the loss of its target, the unused force behind its swing caused it to stumble forward, straight into the waiting arms of Buggy's headless body.

"Nyyaagghh"

With that grunt of effort buggy lifted the blugori into the air and separated the rest of his body into piece, forcing the blugori higher and hire into the air. Once the blugori was at a sufficient height, Buggy turned the blugori's head towards the ground and began spinning him.

"Let's see if you can stand up after this!"

Spinning the blugori faster and faster Buggy threw the sea gorilla towards a separate body part causing it to gain more and more speed as it grew closer to the ground.

"Sūpāsākasu tō Supiningu (Spinning Super Circus Throw)!"

With the force that would've crushed a normal human's skull, Buggy slammed the blugori head first into the stone ground. Buggy reformed a few feet away from the downed guard and immediately began taunting it.

"How do you like that, you stupid sea gorilla!"

His bravado evaporated immediately when the blugori got up from the fall, not even bothered by it in the slightest.

"Oh come on that should have done something to you, you monster!"

The blugori was about to charge at Buggy again when a blur rushed past him and ran straight at the charging sea gorilla.**"WHAM**

With a sound that was similar to a thunder clap, the blugori found itself wrapped around the burning fist of Monkey D. Luffy. After a second of absolute silence the blugori toppled onto its back, completely dead to the world. Buggy felt his jaw drop at Luffy's show of strength, since it had been awhile since he fought him and witness that strength first hand.

"Y-you took down a blugori w-with a single punch!"

Turning his floating head slightly Buggy could see that the three other blugori that Luffy had been fighting were lying on the ground, smoke rising off their unconscious bodies. Seeing the unconscious forms of the blugori

"Come on Buggy you've fought with me before, and somehow managed to survive. You should remember what I am capable of." Luffy said as he prodded the downed sea gorilla with his foot.

Buggy did indeed remember Luffy's power, how could he not, he had nightmares about it almost every night. Looking at Luffy's turned back Buggy couldn't help but remember his nightmares. It's always the same nightmare; a tavern sinks into lava while a large four tailed monster roars in rage. Violently shuddering from the memory of the dream, Buggy came back into reality with a single thought on his decision to work with Luffy.

'_What the hell am I thinking?'_

* * *

><p><span>Techniques:<span>

"Mero Mero Mellow (Falling-Down Drunk Sweet Wind)": Hancock's signature technique, she forms a heart shape with her hands and launch a beam of the shape. Anyone with "dirty thoughts" (lust) hit by this beam will be turned into a stone statue.

"Bara Bara Kinkyū Esukēpu (Chop Chop Emergency Escape)": When there's an incoming attack aimed at his head Buggy quickly separates his head from the rest of his body to avoid harm.

"Sūpāsākasu tō Supiningu (Spinning Super Circus Throw)!": Useing centifical force and gravity, buggy slams an opponent onto the ground causeing massive damage to "normal" enimies.

**A/N: Author's Note**: And that's my Yonbi chapter, next up is Gobi. Make sure to leave a review or Sniper Kitty will get you. Flames, and the flamers, will be feed to the Yonbi.


	6. Gobi: Steam Horns Coming to A Boil

**A/N: **Hello everyone this is Sharkteeth I would like to take a moment to thank my beta reader and co-author Chash123 and for the reviewer Reikson who gave me the wonderful idea for this chapter. A cookie to each of you.

"Bone Balloon"-Someone talking.

'_Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu"_-Someone thinking.

"Bwahahaha, go Luffy! Show that upstart who's boss"-Techniques being used

"**I just need to figure a way out of this seal"**-Demon talking.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto; if I did I would probably be way busier than I am right now.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Gobi: Would You Like to Play A Game?<strong>

* * *

><p>Near the end of the first half of the Grand Line, there was an island known as Long Ring Long Island. Like most other places in the Grand Line, this island was a very odd place. Depending on the yearly tide, the island could be a large chain of ten islands with large grassland plains, or a single circular island with ten peaks.<p>

The island was inhabited by a nomadic tribe of people who moved from peak to peak every three years when the tide moved out. Along with the nomads, the island's indigenous animal life lived a comfortable life in the long stretches of plains on the island, which is reflected by how tall they grow compared to normal animals.

Today though something special was occurring on the island; the Davy Back Fight contest between the Foxy pirates and the Steam Punk pirates was in the final stage of the event and it was a dead even tie. The climatic fight between Foxy the Silver Fox and Steam Punk Luffy for the future of their crews was about to end, in a semi predictable outcome.

XXXXXX

-Long Ring Long Island: Foxy Stadium-

Set up near the ocean's edge of Long Ring Long Island was a massive stadium that was overlooking two odd ships in a makeshift harbor. The largest of the ships was shaped like a fox ship fox and had steel paws that were attached to the bow of the ship; right underneath the fox head figure head. The ship itself could easily hold hundreds of passengers and not be over crowded in the slightest; of course it needed all of that space since the crew of the ship almost numbered in the quadruple digits. The deck of the ship was littered with weapons of all shapes and sizes, ranging from cannons to cutlasses, all across the multiple levels of the deck. This was the ship of the Foxy pirates, the Sexy Foxy.

The second ship was much smaller than the Foxy ship but it was no less impressive. The hull of the ship had intersected pipes crisscrossing out from within the ship to the air outside; the ends of the pipes would occasionally whistle with exiting steam from the furnace within. Near the rudder of the ship was a single set of paddle wheels for extra speed on the ocean and a backwards facing cannon, poised to take out any enemy that may try to sneak up behind it. The ship was repaired by someone with basic skills in carpentry since the only sign of repair were the multiple patches of red steel that littered the hull and mast of the ship. The figure head of this ship was a ram with a smiley face that was held up by a sheet of red steel wrapped around its neck. This little, but powerful, boat was the pirate ship of the Steam Punk pirates, The Going Merry.

Circling the foxlike ship was a large bird with a thin man and some announcement equipment on its back. The man was wearing the standard uniform of the Foxy pirates, which explained the biased comments that he was making on the match below.

"This is amazing folks! Steam Punk Luffy has managed to force Captain Foxy into the bowels of the ship, but can he deal with all the defensive measures that are within it? It's a one-on-one battle to the finish with Captain Foxy having the home field advantage!"

Most of the people within the stands started to chant Foxy's name, cheering him on to victory over the rookie Supernova. But, within a small section reserved for the Steam Punk Pirates, another group was cheering for their own captain.

"C'mon Luffy! Don't lose to that weird guy!" A large-nosed youth with sunglasses shouted towards the large ship. This youth was the sharp-shooter of the Steam Punk Pirates, the "Fearless Captain" Ussop. The young man did a quick spit-take when the tall blonde behind him slapped him in the back of his head.

"Ow!" Ussop complained, rubbing his now-sore head. "Why did you do that Sanji, that hurt?"

Sanji's face was the picture of nonchalance as he waved off Ussop's compliant, "You were in my way Ussop; I couldn't see the ship at all."

Next to Sanji there was an orange-haired female and a slightly older woman with long black hair. These two were the navigator and the archeologist of the Steam Punk Pirates, Nami and Nico Robin. At that moment Nami had an expression of anger mixed with a small bit of worry on her face as she looked on at the Foxy pirate's ship; the expression was clearly noticeable to the other female in the stands as she spoke up to her crewmate.

"What's wrong Ms. Navigator? You seem tense." Robin asked in her normal tone of voice.

Nami released an angry sigh, "I just can't believe Luffy ran into another dangerous situation with no regard to his own safety, again!" Robin was about to speak up to defend their Captain when a loud voice beat her to the punch.

"HEY NAMI! Don't talk about my kare like he's some sort of weakling, 'cause there's only one thing that Luffy isn't, and that's a weakling!"

Both ladies turned towards the owner of the voice and found themselves staring at another startling beautiful woman who was helping herself to the food that she had gotten at the Foxy Fair. She was a slim woman with long deep pink hair that reached her large bust and amethyst colored eyes that had a constant sparkle of annoyance in them. She had an anti-eyebrow below her right eye and an even shade of rose red lipstick across her lips.

She was wearing a revealing white top which exposed part of her stomach and a fair amount of cleavage of her large breasts. She also was wearing a pair of orange and black striped, buckled shorts with long, thin suspenders that reached over her shoulders. She also wore black high-heeled boots that reached up to her calves, with large laces coming from the openings, and a pair of hot pink and dark red stockings with a yellow sun-like motif on them. To complete her outfit wore a green hat that folded over in the middle and a brown lace jacket.

She was Jewelry Bonney, the Co-Captain of the Steam Punk Pirates; but more importantly, at least to the rest of the crew, she was the long term girlfriend of their captain, Monkey D. Luffy. No one on the crew, except the two in question themselves, actually knows how the couple got together in the first place. There has been speculation though; rumors and gossip ranging from one accidently eating the others food in a restaurant to a moonlit first impression over a roasting marine base.

"Luffy-kun isn't so weak that he would lose to some random pirate Captain like Foxy the Silver Fox." Bonney said as she ripped off a large portion of meat from a cooked drum stick before moving onto her peperoni pizzas.

"If anything I should be mad at him for not wasting that foxy little bastard the instant that he saw him."

Nami's face hosted myriad of emotions ranging from anger at Bonney's crude attitude to envy at the woman's ability to eat whatever she wanted and never get fat, eventually she settled on annoyance.

"It's just that Luffy has done this with every enemy we've ever faced so far. Someone catches his eye due to their strength or they insult him or us in some way then he goes off into battle with his fists ablaze."

Bonney snorted in a very un-lady like manner at Nami's skepticism as she started tearing into a corn dog, "Geez Sherbert, you gotta have more faith in my kare, if he was so weak I would've kicked his ass myself a long time ago."

Nami's ire at Bonney grew as she brushed away her concerns without a care, her temper was about to pop when a loud sound interrupted her.

**FWWOOOOOOO**

A good portion of the deck of the Sexy Foxy was blown away in a blast of steam as a figure was blown into the air a good fifty feet above the ship. The announcer on the bird was close enough to the figure to accurately identify him for the benefit; the shock on the announcer's fact the people in the stands was easily seen by all in the stadium.

"I can't believe it folks, its Captain Foxy! Captain Foxy has been blown right out of the battle field!" The announcer yelled.

The members of the Foxy Pirates all began to shout in denial at the announcer's statement; as they couldn't believe their Captain could lose. The Steam Punks just cheered.

"YAY! LUFFY WON!"

"THAT'S MY KARE!"

As the unconscious and burnt-up form of Foxy fell from the air, another figure stepped out of the hole in the Sexy Fox's deck.

The figure was very tall, by normal standards, standing at about six foot one from head to toe. He was wearing exceedingly bright red armor that covered most his body. It was very streamline red-plated armor that extended to cover the majority of his upper body to his red gauntlets. He also wore a pair of black and the top half of torn sleeveless kimono over the plate armor of his chest. His mouth and nose were obscured by part of his plate armor that extended from the main set of armor, but it did not extend far enough to hide the scar that ran underneath his left eye.

The most identifying features of the man were the straw hat and the red furnace that puffed out steam on his back. The hat on his head and the furnace on his back immediately identified him as Monkey D. Luffy Captain of the Steam Punk Pirates.

Looking out towards the crowd in the stand Luffy raised both of his fists towards the air and released a mighty yell.

"NO ONE IS TAKING MY NAKAMA AWAY!"

XXXXXXX

-Long Ring Long Island: Beach-

Standing across from each other, with their respective crewmates behind them, were Foxy and Luffy with a serious looks on their faces.

Foxy had himself wrapped up in white bandages so that his burns were covered from the air while Luffy, with Bonney by his side, stood with just a few scratches on his armor. Both captains were silent for a few moments before Foxy spoke up.

"In over nine hundred Davy Fight Backs I've never lost a single match; but today, against the Steam Punk Pirates, we have been beaten." Foxy raised his hand to the other Captain in front of him in a sign of respect between the two opponents.

"You did good Steam Punk."

Luffy stood still for a moment before he clasped Foxy's hand in a firm handshake. When Luffy grasped Foxy's hand a glint of mischievousness returned to Foxy's eyes as he rapidly spun around and got into a shoulder throw position, ready to throw Luffy over his shoulder.

"YOU FOOL! Overhead Throw of Vengeance!" Unfortunately for Foxy, Luffy's armor was much heavier then it looked.

**THUD**

Foxy face implanted onto the ground in front of him as the force of his own throw yanked Luffy's unmoving arm from his grip and caused him to stumble forward face first into the earth. Most of the Steam Punks had sweat drops on the back of their heads at the stupidity of the other Captain; of course Bonney did not take the attempted attack on her boyfriend lightly.

"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO MY KARE YOU STUPID FOX?"

Bonney delivered a solid punch to Foxy's face that sent the unfortunate Pirate Captain flying into the crowd of his own crew members. As an extra bit of scorn at Foxy for trying to harm her boyfriend, Bonney left him with a little something extra thanks to her own powers.

"Dang you…you whippersnapper…I'm old."

Indeed, Bonney had reduced Foxy into a blubbering old man thanks to the powers of her Devil Fruit.

**CRACK**

"ARGH, MY HIP!"

"CAPTAIN!

XXXXXX

-Five minutes later-

After the Foxy Pirate's doctor had fixed his captain's broken hip, Luffy had managed to convince Bonney to return Foxy to his original age. To do it, he had promised her a romantic date at the next town that they ported at.

Once Foxy was returned to his natural age, he immediately became his usual angry self once again, "OK FINE! Let's just get this over with and move on with our lives."

Foxy waved a hand for his crew to step forward so that the Steam Punks could get a good look at them.

"Who do you want?" Foxy asked.

The announcer on the back of the bird picked up the slack and restarted his commentary, "Monkey D. Luffy has defeated Captain Foxy so he can now pick out anyone from the Foxy Pirates to join his crew. The Steam Punks said they needed a carpenter and, luckily for them, we have three."

Three members of the Foxy Pirates stepped forward so that Luffy could take a look at them. One was an older man with a hat made from rope, the next was a leather-wearing young man with nails in his mouth, and the last was a young woman who gave Luffy a sexy wink.

Almost as one, the Steam Punks took a step or two backwards as Flames of Feminine Rage© leapt from Bonney's eyes.

_'Who does that HUSSEY think she is WINKING AT MY MAN?'_

The announcer, who didn't seem to notice Bonney's rage or was, ignoring it, began to introduce the carpenters.

"Will young Luffy take the leader of our fifty-man mechanic team, Sonieh? Perhaps he'll want the battle-ready mechanic Donoban? Or maybe even the downright sexy carpenter Gina-chan? Only the Captain can choose, so make your choice Monkey D. Luffy."

Luffy immediately made his answer known to the crowd, "I'll take your flag!"

"What?"

"Not our flag!"

"You monster!"

Even some members of the Steam Punks were unhappy with their captain's decision, with Sanji quickly making his displeasure known.

"Wait a minute, Luffy! Let's not make any hasty decisions here… Isn't sexy Gina-chan a much better choice?" Sanji asked hearts in his eyes as he thought about the beautiful woman. "I mean, we won't get an opportunity like this again…"

**BAM!**

Sanji would've continued on with his argument if not for the enraged fist that plowed into his face, courtesy of Bonney.

"No way are we letting that hussy onto our ship you Ero-shefu!" Bonney yelled.

Bonney would've continued on with her triad against the downed chef but a pair of arms wrapped tenderly around her. Bonney's look of anger immediately melted away and was replaced by a light blush on her cheeks. Luffy leaned in started nuzzling Bonney's cheek with his own, all the while whispering soft words into her ear.

"My precious Jewel, why are you so angry? You know that no one in this world shines brighter in my eyes then you, so you have no reason to be so angry."

Bonney's blush grew brighter at her love's words as she silently leaned back into his armored chest. Unfortunately the romantic moment between the two was interrupted by the yowl of an angry fox.

"You're evil Steam Punk; you didn't even wait to consider before you decided to take our pride and strand us on this island."

Luffy, annoyed that the moment between him and his Jewel was ruined, turned and leveled Foxy with a heated glare, "All I want is your flag Foxy. You can keep the sails."

Apparently that answer wasn't a good enough explanation since Foxy's crew still protested against his decision.

"The symbol of flag is painted onto our sails. If you take our flag then we can't use that sail."

Luffy was silent for a few moments, idly wondering how he could fix this, before the metaphorical light bulb went off in his head.

"I'll just erase your old symbol and paint you a new one. That way you can still use your sails."

The Foxy crew was stunned at the kindness of Luffy, none more than Foxy himself.

"You're so nice Steam Punk…"

XXXXXX

"ALL DONE!"

'Kami damn you Steam Punk.'

The Foxy Pirates were currently on their hands and knees in a deep depression over the sight of their new "flag", for a better lack of a word. Apparently, while Luffy was a genius in battle, his drawing skills were equivalent to a five year-old child with two broken hands. Where once there had been a massive fox with crossbones underneath it emblazoned onto the sail, there was now a sea-otter with misshaped bones underneath.

Normal people, about 99% of the population of Long Ring Long Island, considered this to be a travesty. Luffy, however, looked onto his latest "masterpiece" with stars in his eyes.

"I must say Bonney-chan, this may very well be my greatest work." Luffy said proudly as he continued to look onto his "art". "They're actually stunned speechless because they love it so much!"

Bonney didn't respond to her boyfriend's statement about his childish artwork; as she was too busy laughing at the Foxy Pirates. They should've known better to let Luffy paint their sails!

XXXXXXX

-Long Ring Long Island: Outside the Nomad Storage Building-

Sitting outside of a round house made out of clay was a small old man and an injured horse that looked more like a giraffe. These two were better known as Tonjit and his faithful horse, Sherry.

"Don't worry Sherry… you waited ten years for me; I'll wait as long as it takes for you to heal." Tonjit said.

Sherry's eyes began to tear up at her master's kindness.

"After you're all healed up, we'll find the others, together."

Pausing for a moment at the sound of footsteps, Tonjit turned his head and saw the Steam Punk Pirates walking towards him and Sherry. Luffy was leading them all while he used a flag as some sort of cape, reminiscent of a super hero. When Luffy had gotten close enough to them, he removed his cape-like flag and presented it to Tonjit and Sherry.

"We kicked their asses Oiji-san." Luffy announced.

Tonjit looked at the relatively unharmed forms of Luffy's crew and gave them a wide smile, "You all look pretty good to me."

While no one could really see it, they could tell that Luffy was smiling from the odd, "U"-shape of his eyes.

"Yeah, it wasn't much of a challenge." Luffy said.

Tonjit seemed to find Luffy's answer funny since he started to laugh, "Hahahaha… Thank you so much "Steam Punk"."

Nami looked onto the scene with a small smile on her face as she watched her Captain laugh with the old man. It was only moments later when a metaphorical light-bulb went off over her head as she realized her captain's intentions.

"… So that's why you agreed to the Davy Back Fight; you never wanted to take any members from the Foxy Pirates, all you wanted was their flag." Nami said.

Luffy made a dismissive gesture at the idea of using the Davy Back Fight to gain a crewmember, "You can't truly gain nakama if you force them to join you. A nakama must join of his, or her, own free will. If they don't, they'll never be true nakama."

All of the Steam Punk Pirates agreed with their captain's words, even as they remembered how Luffy had managed to convince them to join up with him; not once did he ever force them to join him through the use of threats or shady deals. Once they had exited their respective flashbacks, Nami offered Tonjit a ride to the next peak.

"No problem, no problem. I'm a pretty easy-going guy so I'm not in any sort of hurry. Say, why don't I get you guys some refreshments?" Tonjit replied.

Ussop spoke up at that with revulsion clear and present in his voice, "Please don't tell me you have any more of that horrible cheese…"

Seeing the look of fear and disgust on Ussop's face, Tonjit couldn't help but laugh, "Hahahahahahaa! No, I think that there's some tea leaves and honey in one of the cabinets."

THUMP!

"OWW!"

Like someone walking straight into a wall, Tonjit found himself flat on his butt rubbing his now-sore nose. Opening his eyes, Tonjit saw that there was a very tall man, at least ten feet tall, standing in front of the entrance to his hut.

The man was wearing a white button-up vest over a long-sleeved navy blue shirt and matching white trousers and shoes. He also wore a yellow tie divided into four sections by black lines and had a coat of some kind tucked underneath his arm. The odd thing about the man though was that he appeared to be asleep while standing, if the sleeping mask over his eyes was any indication.

The sudden appearance of the man before them surprised all of the Steam Punks, as none of them ever sensed the arrival of the man; the only ones with a different expression on their faces were Robin, who looked like she had frozen in fear and Luffy who's eyes widened slightly with recognition. The only other one with an expression that was different from shock was Bonney, who had begun to grit her teeth in a combination of anger and fear at the sight of the impossibly. Tonjit was the first person to break the tense spell of silence that was over people around his hut.

"What is that thing?" Tonjit asked with confusion in his voice.

Nami's hesitant voice was the only one that answered him. "I think it's a man!" Nami said as quietly as she could, since she did not want to awaken the potentially dangerous stranger before them. Unfortunately Nami was still too loud in her exclamation since the tall man began to wake up from his impromptu nap.

"Zzz-huh? Who just ran into me?" The man drowsily asked Tonjit even though he didn't take off his sleeping mask to look directly at him.

Tonjit, seeing nothing wrong with the man before him, decided to answer his question honestly.

"I'm terribly sorry, I had no idea that you were standing there." Tonjit said in an apologetic tone.

The man began to stretch a little before he answered the short elder nomad before him.

"It's not a problem, just be more careful where you walk next time." The man said in as somewhat lazy drawl.

**GASP**

Robin finally broke out of her stunned state with a gasp of fear as she fell to the ground in shock, which unnerved the rest of the crew since Robin was never afraid of anything. If the man before them inspired such fear from the most stoic member of their crew then he must be terrifying.

"A-Ao…" Robin stammered out from where she fell.

Hearing the familiar voice, the tall man lifted the sleeping mask from his eyes and gave the downed women a smirk.

"Arararara, you have grown into a fine young woman, Nico Robin."

The rest of the crew, except for Luffy, settled into their respective battle stances, ready for anything that the man may do. Sanji was the first to speak up among the Steam Punks, "Robin-chan, do you know this creep?"

Robin didn't answer the blonde cook as she was too busy hyperventilating from fear to answer him. The tall man on the other hand was perfectly fine with answering Sanji's question.

"We met once before. You could say that we something of a history." The man said with slight amusement.

Unseen by anyone Luffy's eyes narrowed to angry slits at the man's statement while the rest of his crew looked like they were about to attack him. Seeing the situation degenerate awfully quickly, the man held both of his hands up in the universal gesture for nonaggressive intentions.

"Ararara, why don't you all chill out? I wasn't ordered to come out here, honestly. I only came out for a walk and to meet some familiar faces." The man said in a plaintive tone.

The crew was unsure of what the man before them meant, as the confusion was easily visible in their body languages. Eventually Zoro was the one who asked the next important question that was on everyone's minds, "Who are you and who do you work for?"

Robin looked like she was about to answer but someone unexpected beat her to the punch.

"He's one of the three Marine Admirals, Aokiji "The Blue Pheasant"." Luffy said in an even tone of voice, his eyes never leaving the Marine before him.

"THIS GUY'S AN ADMIRAL!"

Everyone shouted their surprise at the identity of the man, Admirals were the main fighting force of the Marines, and the man before them was a literal monster. Ussop was more vocal in his expression of his fear of the man before them. Like magic, Ussop disappeared from everyone's sight and reappeared behind Zoro.

"WHY THE HELL IS HE HERE! THERE ARE PLENTY OF PIRATES WHO ARE WORTH MORE THEN US! WHY NOT GO AFTER THEM?"

Aokiji once again raised his hands in a plaintive manner as he tried to calm the panicking pirates down.

"I already told you guys to chill out. I'm only here to talk a walk." Aokiji said.

A snort from Luffy's direction drew everyone's attention to their red armored Captain. He had both of his arms crossed across his chest as he shifted his weight to his left foot.

"Stop playing around Aokiji, we both know that you never just "go for a walk"! So, what are you really after?"

That really confused the Steam Punks, it sounded like their Captain personally knew Aokiji, but that couldn't be possible. Why would a Marine Admiral associate with a Pirate Captain, it made no sense whatsoever. Aokiji let a small smile grow on his lips as he carefully regarded Luffy.

"Now, now Luffy, what have I said about addressing me before?" Aokiji said.

Steam poured from the furnace on Luffy's back as his emotions began to boil over, "Of course. I apologize…Aokiji-sensei."

It was if time had stopped in that instance as nothing moved, not the Steam Punk pirates, not the elder nomad, and not even the wind dared to blow. Eventually time seemed to return to normal and everything degenerated into chaos.

"WHAT, HE'S YOUR TEACHER?"

"LUFFY WHEN WERE YOU A MARINE?"

Robin couldn't even shout out her surprise like the rest of her crewmates, she could only look at her Captain with surprise and a slight look of betrayal in her eyes. Luffy stood silently as his crew pelted him with all manner of questions until Bonney set her foot down.

"Shut the hell up!"

The threat of Bonney's infamous anger managed to quell her fellow crewmates' questions, the threat of her anger didn't work on Aokiji. Leaning in closer to get a better look at the fiery young woman, Aokiji's eyes took on a slightly angry glint as he examined the woman from head to toe.

"Hmm, so this is the siren that lured my wayward student away from the marines." Aokiji said.

Bonney ignored the Admiral for a second as she reached into one of the pockets of her pants and pulled a clump of red powder. She then held her palm flat in front of her face and blew the red powder into the Admiral's face.

"Karai Moya (Spicy Cloud)."

"Arrrggghh! MY EYES!"

The Steam Punks looked on with disbelief as Aokiji furiously tried to rub the spicy powder from his eyes but only succeeded in making it worse. Who knew that spicy powder to the eyes will take down an Admiral just like a normal person? Robin on the other hand, continued to stare at her Captain with a disbelieving look in her eyes as everyone else had their attention on the flailing Admiral.

"Luffy…" Robin said with an almost whispering tone, "Were you really a marine?"

Luffy was silent for a second, his furnace churning out steam now more than ever, before he answered the question that everyone wanted to hear.

"I was never an "official" marine, if that's what you're wondering."

Chopper was the next one to speak up, "B-but Luffy, if you never were a marine then why would an Admiral train you?"

Luffy shrugged his shoulders as he answered Chopper's question.  
>"Aokiji owed my grandfather a few favors and he cashed them in." Luffy couldn't help but remember the day his grandfather had first dropped him off with the lazy Admiral.<p>

XXXXXXXXXX

-Seven years ago, on a small island in the West Blue-

"Grandpa, why do I have to meet one of your Marine buddies?"  
>A young Monkey D. Luffy was currently being dragged against his will by his eccentric grandfather, the famous Monkey D. Garp. For no reason whatsoever, like most of Garp's actions, Garp had returned to the East Blue and had snatched Luffy right out of Foosha village in the middle of the night, leaving only an explanatory note and major property damage in his wake.<br>"Now Luffy, I think that I have finally found a way to make you give up your rebellious Pirate ways." Garp answered with a grin.  
>"Ahh crap, not again." Luffy said under his breath, though not quietly enough so that his grandfather couldn't hear him.<p>

**BONK**

"OWWW!"

Garp continued walking at an even pace, as though he didn't just smack his grandson over his head.  
>"As I was saying, the reason why you keep insisting on following in that Red-Head's footsteps is because you lack a necessary role model and teacher. Now, I know how awesome I am," Luffy snorted at this which earned him another wallop to the head, "but I can't be around all the time to thoroughly get rid of that Pirate's influence on you. So I called in a few favors and got the next best man for the job to agree to look after you. Ahh we're here."<br>Luffy looked on at the clearing that they had entered and found himself severely underwhelmed at what was in the clearing. Off to one side was a rickety old beach shack that looked like it would blow over with one good storm. The only other thing in the clearing was a tree hammock that was tied between a pair of pine trees of all things. There was a man sleeping in the hammock though, he had a sleeping mask over his eyes as he had one of his legs dangled slightly above the ground as he rocked back and forth in the air.  
>"Hey Kuzan wake your lazy ass up!"<br>The hammock stopped swinging as the man audibly groaned from his laid back position,  
>"How many times do you have to be told Garp, call me Aokiji?"<br>Garp merely laughed away Aokiji's rebuttal as he lifted Luffy up by his shirt and threw him into the hammock with Aokiji.  
>"This here is my grandson, Luffy. He's under the impression that he'll become a pirate when he grows up instead of a marine. So I need you to train him up to be an awesome marine just like me. I'll come by later to see how everything is going, have fun Luffy, Bwahahahaha!"<br>Aokiji ignored the laughing Garp and stared at the child that was sitting on his chest with a bored look in his eyes.  
>"So…your Garp's grandson?"<br>Luffy looked at the man that his grandfather had left him with, an equally bored look in his eyes.  
>"Yep."<br>Aokiji chuckled a bit at Luffy's answer.  
>"I feel sorry for you."<br>"Sigh, I know."

XXXXXXXXXX

-2 Years Later-

**BOOOM**

"ARRGGHH"  
>"MY LEG!"<br>Aboard the ship of the Kuraimizu pirates a battle was taking place, no that not the right word. This is not a battle, it was a slaughter.  
>"Captain we're getting massacred out there you have to do som—urk" The pirate got no further than that since a cannon ball impacted against his chest, sending him straight to Davy Jone's Locker.<br>The captain of the Kuraimizu pirates could only look on as his subordinates were systematically taken apart by the attacking marines.  
><em>'I need to get out of here while the marines are busy with my crew.'<em>

**BAM**

Before he could get any further to the life boats the captain found himself splayed out on the ground, stunned by the force of an armored hand shattering his jaw. As he laid on the ground a series of iron shackles clamped down on his limbs, immobilizing him.

"My, my, my Akui you have been a bad boy." A young voice said.

Akui turned his head to the direction of the voice and found himself staring at a teenager that was wearing a straw hat and red armored gauntlets. Strangely enough the teen seemed to be thumbing through a book with the symbols of the marines on it.

"Ahh here we go."

The teen ripped a page straight of the book and held it up for Akui to see, it was his bounty poster.

"Akui, Captain of the Kuraimizu pirates, your wanted for the crime of mass murder, pillaging of several villages, the destruction of a marine base. Total bounty 35,000,000 beris, all in all a rat with dreams of being a wolf."

Auki would have screamed and cursed the teen for all that he was worth if it wasn't for the fact that his jaw was broken. Seeing that his captive had "decided" to be quiet, Luffy grabbed the end of the iron chains and began to drag Auki to the Marine ship that would take both of them to Marineford.

XXXXXXXXXX

-Marineford: Aokiji's Office-  
>"Sigh, what am I going to do with you Luffy?" Aokiji asked as he looked at his wayward student who was sitting across from him on the opposite side of his solid Adam wood Desk.<br>Luffy merely sat in this chair with a bored expression spread across his face; obviously he did not want to be there, "I still don't see why I'm here Aokiji-sensei."  
>Aokiji's eyebrow began t twitch at Luffy's casual dismissal, because honestly there was a limit to the amount of Monkey D. that one person could take, people like Fleet Admiral Sengoku passed that point a long time ago. Aokiji pulled a folder from one of the drawers and quickly began to thumb through it, reading the entries as he did.<br>"It says here that after you captured Auki you took command of the Marine vessel, why did you do that?"  
>Luffy began to snigger at the memory of that.<br>"The Captain wouldn't agree with me that we needed a party to celebrate our success. So I took control of the ship myself."

The twitching got worse.  
>"After you "stole" the ship, you docked it in an unauthorized port where you got into a fight with the local vegetarians."<br>"Well if animals were not meant to be eaten then why are they made of meat?"  
>Aokiji really wanted to break something at this point.<br>"Okay, so then why, after you finally got back to Marineford … why did it take you eight hours to report in to me?"  
>Luffy managed to grin wider at this somehow, "Well after we got back I decided that I should try fishing for a bit, but I accidentally fell asleep and lost track of time."<p>

The temperature in the room began to fall as the twitching above Aokiji's eye reached critical level. After a few seconds the room's temperature returned to normal as a small smirk adorned his face.

"Well Luffy in light of your recent success I believe that it's time to assign you to a different sort of work."

Now Luffy was beginning to worry, whenever Aokiji-sensei smiled like that bad things usually followed close behind

"What kind of work Aokiji-sensei?"

Aokiji's grin got even wider as he pulled out a jailor's hat and tossed it to Luffy.

"Congratulations Luffy, for the next six months you're the new guard for the Marineford prisons."

"NANI?"

XXXXXXXXXX

-Marineford Prison Cells-  
>Deep within the bowls of Marineford there was a prison for Pirates that were unlucky enough to be caught by the Marine. They waited for their judgment to be passed down upon them by the top Marine brass, but for the newest prison guard, it was driving him to tears from boredom. Luffy was leaning against one of the stone walls of the prison with a clipboard tucked underneath his arm as he tried to stay awake.<br>_'Damn it this is soooo boring, why am I here again? Oh yeah that's right, Grandpa is just waiting for me to make a move so he can drag me back to the Marines all over again. Ugh might as well get this over with.'  
><em>With that thought in mind Luffy pushed himself off the wall and began his first patrol of the cells. As he made his way by each of the cells he checked off the prisoners names when he saw that they were indeed in there. When he reached cells that were reserved for Devil Fruit users or extremely dangerous pirates, he stopped and looked inside past the Kairoseki bars to get a better look at the prisoner that was sitting in the darkness.

The person in the cell was a short, stocky man that had his haired greased back like one of the crime bosses from those old gangster movies that Dadan use to watch. He had a very stern face which had a bit of five o' clock shadow on it; his face was further accentuated by his rather sharp but hooking beak-like nose. Finally he was wearing the standard prison outfit of the Marineford prison.  
>Luffy checked his list for a moment then crossed the name when he finally found it, "Capone Bege, check."<p>

Luffy then moved on to the next cell and found himself looking at a solid wall of pure muscle with wings. The man was very tall, easily towering over Luffy in both height and width, and Luffy could tell that it was all muscle. His face had a wide chiseled grin that never once faltered; it was almost like his face was a mask of some sort since his expression never changed. He also had a very large scar that seemed to start from his hairline and descend past his left eye. His chin sported a prominent, jet-black and scruffy beard that extended upwards to the sides of his jaw and converged with his equally-dark side-burns. His hairstyle was very short and clean shave, Luffy ideally wondered how he kept his hair so tidy while he was in prison. He too, like the last prisoner, wore the standard uniform of the Marineford prison but it was obviously much larger than the last.

"Urouge, check. Next up on the list, Jewelry Bonney. Hmm, what an odd name"  
>Shrugging his shoulder dismissively, Luffy tucked the clipboard underneath his arm and made his way to the final cell. Stepping up to the final cell Luffy looked past the iron bars and at the cells only inhabitant; when he finally saw her Luffy swore that he felt time stop.<br>She appeared to be about his age and was about as tall as him. She had long pink hair that fell past her amethyst eyes and all the way down to her shoulders. She was wearing a modified prisoner's uniform so that the top cut away, past her well-developed bust, exposing her belly button and a good amount of her well-toned stomach. To Luffy, she was the most beautiful person in the world. To Bonney, Luffy was just another annoying Marine who was staring at her.  
>"What the hell are you looking at straw for brains?" Bonney rudely demanded.<p>

Luffy snapped back into reality, with a blush across his face, and stuttered out an answer to the beautiful woman before him.  
>"N-nothing, i-it's nothing."<br>Bonney quickly became annoyed at Luffy's stuttering, which was easily visible in her amethyst eyes.  
>"Why the hell are you stuttering you Marine bastard?" Bonney demanded.<br>"S-sorry it's just that I haven't met someone so beautiful in my entire life."  
>Now it was Bonney's turn to blush at Luffy's words, granted that the person before her was a no-good Marine, but an honest compliment was something that she didn't get too often.<br>"S-shut up! Why would you, a Marine Guard, want to talk to a lowly Pirate wench like me?" Bonney asked.  
>Luffy finally returned to his normal self and with that, his confidence returned to him, "Now why can't I, a lowly human, admire the beauty of a divine tenshi like you?"<br>The blush on Bonney's face grew at the strange guards kind words. She tried to hide it by putting her face in her arms but it did nothing to help. Luffy would've continued talking with Bonney but he knew that if he didn't return soon then the other guards may come to check in on him, and that was something that he did not need right now.  
>"I'm sorry tenshi-chan, but I'll have to cut our visit short."<br>Luffy turned and walked down the hallway for a few seconds before Bonney's voice spoke out from her cell.  
>"Wait! What's your name?"<br>Luffy stopped mid-step and turned to give Bonney a wide grin, "My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I have a feeling that we're going to get along just fine tenshi-chan."  
>With that Luffy began the walk back to the guard station leaving a blushing pink-haired prisoner behind him.<br>_'Monkey D. Luffy huh. He's kinda cute.'_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

-Six Months Later-  
>Life for Luffy had gotten both better and worse, depending on how you looked at it. His relationship with Bonney had grown since the first time they met on opposite sides of the bars. He would be the first to admit it that, at first, there was a fair bit of hostility between them, what with him being a Marine-in-training and her being a pirate. Eventually though Luffy's headstrong determination managed to wear away at Bonney's willpower and they started to get to know each other. Each time that he would visit her he would bring extra food and clean sheets with him to make her stay in the prison more comfortable. Whenever time would permit it when he would go out on patrol he would spend a few minutes just sitting in front of her cell and talk about their lives.<br>Luffy found that Bonney was from a large trading port on an island in the South Blue where she spent all of her childhood. She then went on to explain that, like Luffy himself, her dream was to find One Piece and become the Pirate King or Pirate Queen in this case. Then one day Bonney said that she found a Devil Fruit at a local fruit stand. Apparently the owner of the stand had no idea what he was selling and just thought that it was just an exotic fruit, which had led to Bonney getting the Devil Fruit at a very small price compared to its true value.  
>Luffy was curious as to what kind of power the Devil Fruit gave to Bonney so he asked if she could demonstrate its power for him, to which she only gave a sexy smile and said "of course". To this day, Luffy couldn't understand how he survived the massive nosebleed that he had when he saw Bonney's older, fully matured body in those tight prison clothes.<br>When it was Luffy's turn to share, he told her all about his life in Foosha village including both the good and the bad times. When he told her about his own dream about becoming the Pirate King, she became slightly confused as to why he would be training to become a Marine if he wanted to become the Pirate King. Luffy's face fell as he explained how his grandfather kept forcing him into becoming a Marine, no matter how many times Luffy protested.  
>Then Bonney started to berate Luffy, if his dream really was to become the king of the Pirates then he shouldn't let others dictate what his actions should be. Luffy felt ashamed at her words, because deep down he knew that they were true.<br>His time with Bonney helped him put things in perspective, like the actions of the Marines. As time began to pass Luffy became more and more disgusted at the hypocrisy of the so called "Absolute Justice of the Marines. Most of the so called acts of justice, like the burning of Ohara or their inactions at Sabaody Archipelago all pointed to one fact, Marine were as bad if not worse than the Pirates that they fight.  
>Eventually it got to the point where Luffy could no longer stand the thought of following in his grandfather's footsteps, so he began to plan. He would spend whatever free time that he had that wasn't dedicated to talking with Bonney planning for his eventual escape from Marineford and starting his first step in becoming the Pirate King. Eventually, Luffy knew that things would come to a head, especially when his term as a prison guard ran out.<p>

XXXXXXXXXX

-Aokiji's Office-  
>"Well Luffy, I suppose congratulations are in order. You managed to go the whole six months of guard duty without a single incident, I'm impressed." Aokiji said.<br>Aokiji then looked at Luffy as the boy sat morosely in the seat across from him. It seemed that Luffy had entered some sort of funk when the end of his guard duty came up. This thoroughly confused Aokiji, 

_'Hmmm, how odd. It's like Luffy is sad that he won't be a guard anymore, but why?'  
><em>Shaking away the stray thought, Aokiji returned his attention to Luffy.

"Luffy are you alright? You seem…down."

Luffy was silent for a second before he released a sigh.

"It's nothing Aokiji-sensei; I'm just a little tired. Can you just tell me what my next job is so that I can get some sleep?"

Aokiji looked unconvinced at Luffy's assurance, he knew his student well enough to know that something was on his mind, but he decided to not pressure the young boy. He had just been given a letter that he hoped would cheer his depressed student up.

"Actually Luffy that's one of the reasons why I wanted to talk with you." Aokiji pulled a large envelope with the symbol of the marines on it from his Admiral coat and handed it to Luffy.

"As of 0900 tomorrow you will be an official marine of the World government."

The display of happiness and gratitude that Aokiji hoped for from Luffy never came, as Luffy's eyes showed no hint of any emotion.

"Granted that since you are my student, you will be starting at a much higher position than anybody in your age group, but it shouldn't take to long for people to get use to your advanced position."  
>Luffy still showed no signs of the excitement that Aokiji wanted to see in his eyes but some signs of life did return to them, though not for the reasons that Aokiji was hoping.<p>

"Aokiji-sensei, if I may ask what will happen to Bo-prisoner 642?"

Aokiji was honestly surprised at Luffy's question, why would he want to know about that one prisoner? Seeds of doubt began to form in his mind but he decided to humor the boy one last time before he became an official Marine. Aokiji pulled open one of his drawers and pulled out a seemingly random file from the hundreds that were in there. Flipping it open on the on the desk in front of him so that he could read it out loud, tracing each word with his finger as he did so.

"Prisoner 642, Jewelry Bonney. Hmmm, It looks like that the Gorosei have taken an interest in her Devil Fruit powers and have decided that she is to be sent to Dr. Vegapunk so that it can be studied and possibly replicated."  
>Aokiji had to yank his hand back lest he let it be broken by his students angry fist, his desk on the other hand wasn't so lucky.<p>

**CRACK**

Aokiji's solid Adam-wood desk was split in half under the power of Luffy's strike, though the boy's anger was nowhere near finished.

"WHAT THE HELL AOKIJI-SENSEI! WHY ARE YOU SENDING BONNEY-CHAN AWAY TO BE EXPERIMENTED ON?" Luffy demanded angrily.

Aokiji was stunned at his student's outburst; as he had never seen Luffy so angry before. But, after a moment, the Marine Admiral registered what Luffy had screamed out.

"Bonney…-chan?" Aokiji whispered.

Suddenly, it all made sense to him; Luffy's sudden excitement about his job as a prison guard, the requests for extra patrol hours, the missing sheets from the prison laundry, and finally the sudden anger atJewelry Bonney's fate.

Monkey D. Luffy, the grandson of the "Hero of the Marines" Monkey D. Garp, had fallen in love with a Pirate. Aokiji quickly recollected himself, as there was no time to gawk now; he had to do something before Luffy did something stupid.  
>"Luffy tell me right now, do you have feelings for this woman?" Aokiji asked.<br>Luffy's silent glare told Aokiji everything that he needed to know. Aokiji sighed heavily as he could feel a migraine coming on.  
>"Luffy you cannot be having feelings for this woman, do you understand me?"<br>That was the wrong thing to say since it seemed to set Luffy off more as vapor started to leak from his gauntlets.  
>"WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TELLING ME WHO I CAN OR CANNOT FALL IN LOVE WITH!"<br>Aokiji had enough of Luffy's attitude and decided to put a stop to it. The temperature in the room dropped heavily as layers of frost began to form over his clothes; the coldness in the room paled in comparison to the coldness in Aokiji's eyes though.  
>"Enough Luffy this discussion is over; I suggest that you let this be!"<br>Luffy quieted down but his glare did not cool at all.  
>"Of course… Aokiji-sensei."<br>Aokiji felt his migraine get worse at his student's show of defiance; this was not how he wanted this day to turn out. It was supposed to be a happy day where his student finally became a full-fledged Marine; instead he finds out that his student has fallen for the charms of a sea siren.  
>"I suggest that you retire for the rest of the day. You have a big day tomorrow and you should be at your best for it."<p>

Luffy didn't answer Aokiji as he violently pushed his chair back and made his way to the hallway. Before he could grab the doorknob, Aokiji spoke up to the retreating Luffy."Luffy, that woman is a Pirate, and tomorrow you will become a Marine. As long as you're a Marine, she will have no place in your life; do you understand?"

Luffy didn't say anything for a moment as he stood in front of the door leading to the hallway. Eventually Luffy spoke up, "I understand Aokiji-sensei."

With that Luffy left Aokiji along in his office.

_'As long as I am a Marine, I cannot be with my Jewel... I know what I must do.'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

-Marineford prison-  
>Luffy made his way to the guard station in the prison to begin the first part of his escape plan. Luffy entered the station and saw only one guard in the station and the large security projector Mushi off to the side. The guard was one of his friends that he made in the last six months; that may complicate a few things in the immediate future.<p>

The guard was fairly tall, about the same height as Luffy and wore the standard marine uniform. He has fairly long jet black hair tied in a spiky ponytail, sort of like a pineapple, narrow brown eyes, and has both ears adorned by earrings. Currently he was more interested at staring at the crudely drawn clouds on the ceiling then paying attention to the video monitors; perfect. Plastering a grin on his face and getting his emotions under control, Luffy greeted his friend for what very well could be the last time.

"Hey Shikamaru what's up you lazy ass?" Luffy asked.

Shikamaru barely even moved from his seat as he turned his head towards Luffy before he sighed, "So troublesome. Why are you here Luffy? I thought that your term as a guard was up."

Despite the obvious clash in personalities, Shikamaru and Luffy were very good friends, though it took some effort from Luffy's end. At first, Shikamaru found Luffy to be a little aggravating but, after Luffy painted some clouds on the ceiling of the guard station at a passing comment of his, Shikamaru had warmed up to Luffy. Luffy felt guilty for tricking his friend but he needed to do this if he ever wanted to be truly free and be with his Bonney-chan.

"I just wanted one last look around the place before they ship me off. Perhaps I'll even see the newbie that they replaced me with." Luffy said.  
>Shikamaru sighed again and returned his attention towards the painted clouds on the ceiling. He never noticed Luffy swiping a particular set of jail keys and if he had, he didn't say anything.<br>"They replaced you with a real troublesome guy named Smoker; he's always so serious and complains when I don't watch the monitors." Shikamaru said. "Though I suppose that I should pay more attention to what he says or he may use that Logia power of his on me."  
>That last bit of information really caught Luffy's interest, <em>'Logia huh... that'll be tricky but, thanks to Aokiji-sensei's training, I think I can deal with him. Just have to remember to use Haki.'<br>_"Well Shika, I guess I should get going. I'll see you around." Luffy said.

Luffy turned to leave but was stopped by Shikamaru's voice, "Hey Luffy…"

Luffy was terrified; did Shikamaru notice the missing keys? Did he know what Luffy was planning to do? If anyone could figure it out, it was Shikamaru; the guy might not look like it, but he was very smart. Luffy wasn't going to take a chance to see if Shikamaru had found out, and was about to turn around and knock his friend unconscious but was stopped at the sound of Shikamaru's voice, "Take care of yourself, okay Luffy?"

Luffy visibly relaxed at his friends question and he answered with a grin on his face.

"Don't worry I will Shikamaru."

With that Luffy turned and left Shikamaru alone in the room. Shikamaru sat in his chair for a while, quiet as the stones around him, before he let out an audible groan. He then leaned forward and flipped a switch on the Security Projector Den-Den Mushi that shut down the surveillance system for his sector of the prison.  
>Seeing that his work was done Shikamaru went back to staring at the painted clouds as a small smile grew on his lips.<p>

_'Luffy you may be troublesome, but I hope you accomplish that troublesome dream of yours.'_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Luffy walked the rest towards the end of Cellblock D, where Bonney and the rest of the dangerous criminals were being kept, while smiling on the inside for how well his plan was going so far.  
><em>'Just two more obstacles to go then me and Bonney-chan are out of here scot free.'<br>_With that thought in mind, Luffy quickened his pace as he turned around another corner in the hallway. After a few more minutes of walking, he came upon the area where Bonney and the other prisoners were being kept. Quickly scanning the area, Luffy made out the new guard for this sector sitting in a chair with both of his arms in a relaxed crossed position; he must be Smoker.  
>Smoker was a tall muscular grey haired man who seemed to be smoking two large cigars at the same time, that couldn't be healthy at all. He was wearing a large thick white and blue specialist Marine jacket that was zipped open and had greenish fur lining the neck, wrists and hem of the jacket. On his back was a large jutte that looked like it had been put through the ringer more than on one occasion He also was wearing a pair of brown leather gloves, a pair of blue jeans with a brown belt and a set of large military issue brown leather boots.<p>

Seeing Luffy walk closer to him Smoker reached back and gripped the handle of his jutte, ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

"Halt, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Whoa there cowboy I'm the previous guard of this sector, Monkey D. Luffy." Luffy said as he held both of his hand up in a nonthreatening manner as he walked towards Smoker.

Smoker didn't ease his hand off the jutte for a second before his hands returned to their crossed position.

"Yeah I heard about you from that sloth at the guard station. Why are you here? I thought that the higher ups were going to promote you to a full marine."

Luffy managed to produce a believable smile as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "They are going to promote me to a Marine." He then walked up to Bonney's cell and looked inside at the confused Pirate. The confusion could be easily seen on her face until she saw Luffy give her a discreet wink, which told her that Luffy had a plan of some sort. Smoker scoffed at Luffy's statement as he got off his chair so that he could stand behind Luffy.

"I don't know why you would bother coming down here to see these scum, they'll be shipped off to Impel Down soon enough. Of course this is no surprise since that's the fate of all who follow the path of the pirate."

Luffy seriously wanted to destroy something at this point, Smoker's bashing of his Bonney-chan and all pirates in general was wearing away at his already thin temper, but Luffy held himself back. This was not the correct time to strike; he needed Smoker to let his guard down just a little bit more before he could take him out.

Smoker seemed to not notice Luffy's tense posture as he walked up behind him and laid a gloved hand across Luffy's shoulder in a sign of congratulations,

"Hey scuttlebutt says that you actually wanted to become a pirate when you were younger. Boy it's a good thing that you wised up before you became like the scum here."

That was enough for Luffy,

'_Ok that's it. I was going to let you off with a nasty goose egg but you just bought yourself a ticket to coma land.'_

"Actually Smoker-san that's not entirely true…"

Smoker looked down at Luffy with a somewhat puzzled expression on his face; he never did notice the steam leaking out of Luffy's gauntlets.

"I still want to be the King."

With that Luffy spun around and threw his fist towards Smoker's face. "Jōki Suiryoku (Steam Thrust)"

Steam flowed from Luffy's gauntlet at great speeds causing it to become a red blur that rocketed towards the angry Smoker's face.

'_Luffy's a traitor, I need to take him out as soon as his fist pas...'_

**BAM**

Smoker clearly expected for Luffy's fist to merely pass through him and was therefore surprised when the gauntlet made contact with his face and sent him flying into a wall sending up a lot of dust and debris into the air. Luffy waited for the dust to settle so that he could make sure that Smoker was down for the count. He didn't need to worry, for when the dust had settled Smokers was laid out in the chair that he was originally sitting in knocked out cold with an impression of Luffy's fist on his face. The other prisoners started cheering at the sight of the knocked out guard.

"Way to go Luffy-kun!" Bonney cheered at the sight of her boyfriend's actions.

"Indeed young man that was quite the show, but please, get us out of here before the other guards show up." Bege said as he stood behind the bars of his cell.

"Oh, right I'm on it."

Using the keys that he swiped from Shikamaru's station Luffy unlocked all three of the cells in the sector. When Luffy unlocked Bonney's cell, she threw herself at Luffy for a flying glomp.

"Ah Luffy-kun I knew that you would get me out of there, thank you!"

Then to Luffy's immense pleasure she began to kiss him with all of the passion that she had in her body. This went on for a bit before a chough caused them to separate from each other, each panting for a bit.

"I hate to break up a moment between young love," Urouge said as he looked on at the blushing pair. "But while I appreciate you freeing us, how will you get us out of Marineford?"

Luffy, reluctantly, separated from Bonney and walked up to the wall at the end of the hallway and placed his hand against it.

"This wall is the weakest point in all of Marineford; no one expects any one to attack from this side so it was ignored for a long time. Until I discovered it of course, I set up a powerful bomb on the other side of the wall but we'll need to use something equally as powerful on this side to fully break through."

Urouge chuckled a bit as he walked up to the wall where Luffy was standing at,

"I believe that I can help you out my young friend, just give me a few seconds."

Urouge stood before the wall separating him and his fellow prisoners from freedom and seemed to concentrate for a second. All of a sudden Urouge's right arm began to swell bigger and bigger until it was triple in size then when it normally was.

"Okay my little friend just tell me when."

Luffy nodded that pulled out a small device with a single switch on it, "Okay on the count of three I want you to punch the wall with everything you got."

Urouge's perpetual smile seemed to get wider for a second as he got into position to swing his enormous arm towards the wall.

"All set!"

At Urouge's statement Luffy began to the count down as he armed the detonator switch.

"All right in 3…2…1, NOW!"

Urouge swung his massive arm at the wall with as much force as he could just as Luffy flipped the detonator switch.

**BOOOOMMM!**

XXXXXXXXXXXX

-Aokiji's office-

**BOOOOMMM!**

Aokiji was shaken from his midafternoon nap by the sound of a large explosion that ripped through Marineford. All signs of drowsiness were instantly replaced by the serious face of the Marine Admiral that inspired the nightmares of many pirates. Quickly grasping the receiver for his Den-Den Mushi Aokiji pulled it off the hook so that he could find out just what was going on.

"This is Admiral Aokiji just what the hell is going on."

The Mushi immediately woke up as a voice on the other end began to speak."

"Aokiji-sama, something just exploded in the section of the prison where the Devil Fruit users are being kept. We have no visuals though; the entire surveillance Mushi system seems to be down."

'_The DF user section, but who would…LUFFY! Please don't do what I think you've done."_

Aokiji didn't even bother hanging the Mushi up as he ran out of the office to hopefully prevent his apprentice from doing something stupid.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

-Back with Luffy-

Luffy and the other's all looked at the newly made hole in the wall knowing that they were all one step closer to freedom. That is, until Bege looked down at what was outside of the hole,

"Luffy, what is the meaning of this? There's no way down!"

Indeed, just outside of the wall was a hundred foot droop straight down into the turbulent ocean waters, a certain death for anyone, regardless if they had eaten a Devil Fruit or not.

Luffy only smiled as the others began to panic, then as if he was taking a Sunday stroll Luffy walked to the edge of the hole and turned around to face the others.

"Let me tell you all a secret…"

Urouge, Bege, and Bonney all quieted down as Luffy began to speak, each wondering how this was going to help them at all.

"My grandpa and sensei always assumed that the Devil Fruit that gave me my powers was a Parmecia class. They were assumed wrong…"

Luffy smiled more as he did something that no expected him to do, "It was a Zoan fruit"

He jumped.

"LUFFY!" Bonney cried desperately as she ran foreword to try to save her love. When she reached the edge of the hole she got down on her knees and reached out with her arm in a vain attempt to capture the hand of Luffy before he fell into the ocean. Bonney felt her eyes widen as she quickly leapt back from the wall and fell ungracefully onto her bottom. Rising into the view of the three prisoners was a beast unlike anything they have ever seen before.

The beast resembled a white horse whose head was replaced with that of a dolphin's. It had two long pointed horns on the back of its skull and three shorter horns in front of the back ones; each one was deadly sharp from what they could see. The ends of its horns, and hooves had dark brown spots and its ocean blue eyes had red markings around them like eyeliner. The thing that struck them the most was the five long majestic white tails that flowed behind the beast and the fact that it was walking on the water's surface like it was solid land.

All was silence until a deep baritone voice sounded from the five-tailed beast, **"What's the matter Bonney-chan? You look like you've seen a ghost."**

Bonney was stunned at the familiar affectionate tone that the monster used; only one person ever dared talk to her like that.

"Luffy-kun…is that you?"

The five tailed beast only smiled at her question, unwittingly showing its sharp teeth to the prisoners, **"Of course it is my Jewel who else would I be?"** Luffy then got serious again**. "There's no time to explain, quickly climb onto my back so that we can get out of here before sensei comes." **Luffy growled as he leaned against the wall underneath the hole.

Seeing that there really was no choice in the matter all three of the former prisoners jumped onto Luffy's back and grabbed a few clumps of hair so that they wouldn't fall off in the impending escape.

**"Okay everyone, just hold on tight this ride may get a little bumpy."**

With that warning Luffy started to gallop across the ocean's water with enough speed so that he only appeared as a blur to anyone who may catch a glimpse of him. As they ran further and further away from Marineford Luffy couldn't help but have one final thought in regard to his former sensei.

_'I'm sorry Aokiji-sensei but this is my dream. Wakare, Admiral Aokiji."_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

-With Aokiji-

_'I hope I'm not too late.' _Aokiji thought as he raced through Marineford.

Thanks to his liberal use of Soru, Aokiji had managed to enter the prison sector in record time. What he saw did not bode well at all. Smoker was out cold against the wall and three and three all-to familiar cells were wide open. Looking around the cellblock further, Aokiji finally noticed the hole in the wall and began to walk towards it.

Every clack of his shoes against the stone floor was like thunder to Aokiji's ears as various scenarios rushed through his mind; had Luffy really betrayed the Marines? Had Luffy been forced to betray them in anyway? If so, then by whom?

Aokiji finally made it to the hole and merely stood at the edge of the hole, as though he was hoping that the salty sea air would provide him with the answers that he so desperately wanted. Strangely enough, it did.

Silently floating from the sky as though it was a leaf was an envelope. Thanks to a small gust of the ocean breeze, the envelope flew towards Aokiji who plucked it from the air. Looking at the envelope in his hands Aokiji couldn't help but feel a deep sense of sadness.

It was Luffy's Marine acceptance letter.

After a second of standing in the ocean breeze his sadness was crushed beneath the cold oppressive force of his rage, _'Jewelry Bonney this is your fault. You seduced Luffy away from his future in the Marines. You will_ pay._ I'll make certain of that.'_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

-Present time-

Luffy shook his head to clear away the loose memories as he refocused his attention on his old sensei, who was lying down in the grass. His eyes were still red from the chili powder that the Bonney blew in his face. The others in the clearing were still looking at him for answers to their when Bonney spoke up again in Luffy's defense.

"Listen up you lot, and listen well. Luffy gave up his possible future as a Marine for me so if you have a problem with him then you have a problem with me!" Bonney declared as she held her fist up ready to smack any of them who may have had a problem with Luffy.

The rest of the crew looked at each other for a second before they all nodded in agreement. Then as one they all yelled out their answer for Luffy, Bonney and anyone else that would be able to hear them, "LUFFY IS OUR CAPTAIN AND WE WILL NOT ABANDON HIM!"

Luffy couldn't help but feel a great amount of happiness at his crew's faith in him. Even Robin had lost the look of betrayal on her face and had joined in the others in their support of Luffy. Happy feelings aside Luffy knew that he needed to find out why Aokiji was here. Luffy turned his attention to Aokiji, who finally got the last of the chili pepper out of his eyes.

"So once again Aokiji, why are you really here." Luffy asked.

Aokiji began to grumble something about disrespectful apprentices before spoke up, "I suppose that you wouldn't except the excuse that I just wanted to see how my former apprentice was doing with his new crew would you?"

"Not a chance in hell." Luffy snorted dismissively at Aokiji's excuse.

"I knew that wouldn't cut it." Aokiji's eyes shut as though he was thinking hard, or he was just tired again. He then pointed to Tonjit, who had been silent throughout the whole conversation. "You there, I wasn't fully asleep earlier so I heard about your problem; you're trying to get to the other islands correct?"

Tonjit was a little hesitant to answer the man before him. While Tonjit may have had a great deal of respect for the marines in general, the Admiral could try to hurt the nice young people who helped him and Sherry since they were pirates. Eventually the need to see his long lost family won out against his caution.

"Yes, I do need to get across the islands."

"Then I can help you." Aokiji simply said as calmly as someone would who was talking about the weather.

"NOW WAIT A SECOND!" Ussop shouted as he pointed his shaking finger at Aokiji. "Just how do you plan to do that? I highly doubt that you're going to swim him over there and since we didn't see another ships nearby you can't ferry him over."

Surprisingly it was not Aokiji who answered, it was Robin. "No, it's possible." She said quietly, her voice barely a whisper. "With his powers it's entirely possible."

The crew, except for Luffy and Bonney, were all confused at what Robin meant.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Aokiji, the Steampunk Pirates, and Tonjit with Sherry in a cart all walked to the edge of the island where a stone ramp descended into the ocean. Tonjit had packed up all of his belongings onto a cart and safely secured Sherry onto a trolley so that she wouldn't have to move. Seeing that they had arrived at the edge of the island Aokiji began to walk to the water's edge.

"So this is the road that only appears at low tide." Aokiji commented as he stood on the stone ramp that led to the other islands.

"So how exactly are you going to get the old man across the sea?" Sanji asked as he continued to glare at the Marine. "Are you going to pull him as you swim across?"

"Don't be silly, that's just impossible." Aokiji deadpanned at Sanji's question. Aokiji then crouched before the ocean and dipped his fingertips into the water. Then a look of extreme concentration appeared on his face, as though he was trying to force something to happen.

"Please step back for a moment."

Everyone was silent for a few seconds as they watched the Marine Admiral work, most were wondering what he was doing while Luffy, Bonney and Robin knew what was going to happen next. Of course they really didn't expect for the surprise that they got.

**FWOOSH…GYYYAAAAA!**

A large sea king breached the surging waves and began to lunge at the still kneeling Admiral, who showed no signs of distress. That didn't stop the others from panicking though.

"That's the Sea King that rules these waters!" Tonjit screamed hastily.

The Sea King then released another mighty roar as it charged in to devour Aokiji whole. Aokiji still did not lose his icy composure and was silent up until the beast was upon him. _"Ice Age!"_

From Aokiji's submerged fingertips came a wave of ice, the sheer coldness of it freezing everything in its path. Even the mighty Sea King was frozen solid by the oppressive ice, despite the beast's best attempts to get away. The ice now stretched out as far as the eye could see across the ocean's surface; most of the Steampunk's couldn't believe what they were seeing. The very weakness that was shared by all bearers of the Devil Fruit had been subverted and defeated.

"This is the power to tame the ocean itself; the freezing power of the Hie Hie no Mi." Robin spoke up, breaking the shocked silence that Aokiji's power created. "This is the power that belongs to the Marine Admiral of Water…"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

-A few Minutes Later-

After a heartfelt goodbye from Tonjit and Sherry, Luffy turned around to find that his former sensei was once again sitting on the ground lazily staring at them. With the rest of the crew behind him and Bonney by his side Luffy knew he needed to find out Aokiji's true intentions. As he was about to ask his questions, Bonney beat him to the punch.

"What's the deal old man? I doubt that you came all the way out here just preform your good deed of the day or just see my kare. So why don't you just spill it already, why are you here?"

Aokiji seemed to ignore Bonney, which served to further anger Bonney, but Luffy could see Aokiji narrowed his eyes slightly from anger. That was odd, Aokiji rarely gets angry; so why is it that Bonney inspired such anger in Aokiji?

Not even bothering to answer Bonney's question, Aokiji reached into his vest and pulled something out. Then, before anyone could get a good look at what it was, he threw it to Luffy, who deftly caught it in midair due to his trained reflexes. Lowering the object in his hand to eye-level, Luffy couldn't hold in his surprise at what it was.

Sitting innocently in his hands was a stark white envelope with the insignia of the Gorosei emblazoned on it. The rest of his crew also let out surprised gasps at the sight of the letter in their captain's hands.

Ever so slowly, as though the letter may burst into flames, Luffy broke the wax seal of the envelope and took out its contents so that he may read it. As he eyes moved lower and lower down the letter, his shock grew more and more. Eventually his crew could not take the suspense anymore.

"Luffy-kun, what the hell is on that letter?" Bonney asked

It was not Luffy who answered though, it was Aokiji, "Monkey D. Luffy, also known as "Steam Punk" Luffy, by the power invested in me by the Gorosei, I offer this invitation to you and your crew. Will you join the Shichibukai?

* * *

><p><strong>Techniques:<strong>

1. Karai Moya (Spicy Cloud): A fairly simple techniques, all you need is a handful of spicy powder and a pair of unprotected eyes for it to work. Simply blow the spice into the opponent's eyes and watch the magic happen.

2. Jōki Suiryoku (Steam Thrust): Using the power of the Biju-Biju Fruit: Model Gobi, Luffy can generate steam and force it through his armor, making it move with the force of a steam train.

3. Ice Age (Aokiji names his techniques in English so don't complain): An attack used only near the ocean or another large area of water. Kuzan places his hand in the water, then in an instant freezes it (along with anything in/on it) completely solid. The actual extent of the ice can stretch for miles and last for over a week. Not only does it freeze the area, but turns anything and everything in the area, including living organisms, into completely frozen statues. It is undetermined how long the targets of this version would remain frozen.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>AN: Author's Note**:** And that's Gobi…part one. I wanted to do a big battle scene, but I put off posting this chapter long enough. So this chapter, like Sanbi, will be a two parter. Make sure to leave nice messages or else sniper kitty will get you.


	7. Gobi: Boiling Horse Vs Icy Pheasant

**A/N: I am sorry that this chapter took so long, thank you all for waiting. I would like to thank my Beta Chash123 for his invaluable help with this and every chapter. Also in the following chapter Aokij'is attacks will be in dubbed and English since in the manga and in the anime, undubbed and dubbed, Aokiji states his attacks in English.**

* * *

><p>"Wait why were we fighting?" Someone talking.<p>

'… _You know what? I can't remember.'_ Someone thinking.

"Should we tell them?" Techniques being used

**"…No we should just it be."** Demon talking.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or Naruto

* * *

><p><strong>Previously on Ten Tailed Straw-hat:<strong>

XXXXXXXX

_Ever so slowly, as though the letter may burst into flames, Luffy broke the wax seal of the envelope and took out its contents so that he may read it. As he eyes moved lower and lower down the letter, his shock grew more and more. Eventually his crew could not take the suspense anymore._

_"Luffy-kun, what the hell is on that letter?" Bonney asked_

_It was not Luffy who answered though, it was Aokiji, "Monkey D. Luffy, also known as "Steam Punk" Luffy, by the power invested in me by the Gorosei, I offer this invitation to you and your crew. Will you join the Shichibukai?"_

XXXXXXXX

And now the exciting next episode of Gobi!

**Gobi Part 2: Boiling Horse vs. Icy Pheasant**

XXXXXXXX

No one in the clearing dared moved after the bombshell that Aokiji had just dropped on them. Eventually, what Aokiji was offering them finally registered in their minds and all hell broke loose.

"WHAATTT?"

"LUFFY JOINING THE SHICHIBUKAI?"

"THIS HAS TO BE A DREAM!"

None of the crew ever dreamed that they would ever be offered this opportunity; after all, most if not all of their encounters with marines usually degenerated into violence of some kind. Now, against all of their expectations and fears, they were being offered a chance to still be Pirates without suffering any interference from the marines. How could their captain not accept this offer?

"Of course there are a few rules that you need to know first." Aokiji said as everyone calmed down. He then lifted three of his fingers in front of his face and began listing off the rules to the crew.

"Number one; you must pay 10 percent of any treasure that you find to the World Government. Number two; whenever the World government calls upon you must answer their call. And Number 3; any island that you "liberate" in the New World is immediately place under Marine control."

Aokiji then returned to his laying position on the grass as he continued talking, "If you accept the position then not only will you no longer be sought after by the Marines, the Gorosei will grant you any one request that you may have."

Everyone on the Steam Punk crew was pretty much embracing the idea of joining the Shichibukai….except for Luffy, Bonney, and Robin that is. Each had their reasons for not immediately taking this offer but it was eventually Luffy who broke the tense silence.

"And what else Aokiji-sensei?" Luffy asked as most of the crew looked at him with confusion in their eyes.

Aokiji's eyebrow ticked once at Luffy's question before he replied in his usual relaxed tone. "What do you mean Luffy? Those are all of the rules, there are no other constrictions besides those."

Luffy crossed his arms once again as more steam began to billow from his furnace. "Don't try to play me Aokiji. There was a reason why you could never beat me in poker; I know all of your signs. So once more, what are the other requirements?"

Aokiji's eyebrow ticked twice this time as the grass around him gained a slight layer of frost. After a long moment of silence Aokiji began to speak in a slow voice to his former student, "There are two more conditions for you to fulfill before you can join the Shichibukai…"

The Steam Punks all began to feel uneasy at the prospect of two mystery conditions but they wanted to hear them anyways. After all it wasn't often that the position of Shichibukai was offered to someone.

"In accordance with the commands of the Gorosei if Monkey D. Luffy wishes to join the Shichibukai then he must turn over Nico Robin and Jewelry Bonney for immediate detainment."

"…"

"…"

"WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT!"

Everyone erupted with anger at the thought of giving up their friends for personal glory. Did this man think that they were so shallow that they would agree with this insane request? Each member of the crew got into their respective fighting stances, each ready to pummel the Admiral into the ground. Seeing that he was quickly losing them Aokiji tried to make them rethink their decision.

"Don't be too hasty here; this is a big opportunity that's being presented to you that won't ever happen again." Aokiji then turned his attention back to Luffy in an attempt to persuade him, "Besides you don't want those women on your crew Luffy. Nico Robin is a curse to whoever is in her company. Every organization that she has associated with eventually ends up destroyed with her as the sole survivor. And now she has joined your group…" Robin looked ashamed at Aokiji's accusations but said nothing in her own defense.

"Then there's sea siren that you broke out broke out of MarineFord…" Luffy's eyes narrowed slightly at Aokiji's words as steam began to leak from the creases of his armor. Bonney wasn't holding it together as well as Luffy as her face was already glowing red from anger at the Admirals words.

"Don't you think that's its almost too convenient that you fell for her just as she was going to be shipped out of Marineford?"

"What are you trying to say Aokiji?" Luffy quietly hissed out.

"I'm saying that Jewelry Bonney knew that she was to be shipped out to Impel down and then she saw you. She took advantage of you; fed you lie after lie until she had you under her spell. And then she used you to break out of jail so she wouldn't face Justice." Aokiji stated even as Bonney grew red with rage and Luffy's furnace began to pour out steam at a steady rate, creating a low whistling sound similar to when a tea kettle whistles. "The only reason she continues to act as if she loves you is because you ate one of the most powerful Devil Fruits out there. She is using you and your power to further her own plans."

That was too much for Bonney to bear and released an angry shriek as all of her pent up anger at the admiral burst out of her like a breaking dam.

"How dare you! What gives you the right to question my love for Luffy? I love him, unconditionally and unselfishly and if you ever DARE suggest that my love for him is false then I'll shove fist so far down your throat that you'll…" Bonney would've continued her angry rant but Luffy stepped in front of her and moved to stand in front of Aokiji. "Luffy-kun?"

Aokiji smirked slightly since he thought that Luffy was going to agree to the offer but then he began to speak.

"Aokiji, not only do you come here and insult my nakama; you actually believe that I will give up a member of my crew and my love for personal gain." Aokiji's smirk fell from his face as the members of the Steam Punks looked at their captain with happiness in their eyes and expressions.

"Then you have the absolute gall to question the love that Bonney-chan and I have for each other... that was the last straw." Luffy then gripped the Gorosei in his hands and ripped it to shreds. When the deed was done Luffy threw the torn scraps at the Grass in front of Aokiji like it was party confetti.

"Consider this my way of saying 'hell no!'." Luffy said as the rest of his crew cheered him on.

A hundred different emotions flew in Aokiji's eyes as he stared at the shredded remains of the Shichibukai invitation letter. Eventually, the emotions in his eyes settled on cold resignation.

"I really wish you hadn't done that Luffy." Aokiji sighed. The majority of the Steam Punks looked at Aokiji with confusion while Luffy merely stared at his former sensei.

"The Gorosei gave me a secondary set of orders. If you rejected the offer of joining the Shichibukai then I am to eliminate you and your entire crew." With that Aokiji disappeared from everyone's view and reappeared in front of Luffy with his hand gripping his once student's face. "Ice Time."

Luffy's widened eyes were the only indication of surprise before he was frozen completely solid in a thick layer of ice and frost.

"LUFFY!" The Steam Punks cried out in alarm at how easily their captain was taken out.

It didn't seem realistic that their captain could've been caught off guard like that. The idea that he could be so easily defeated by a single person was something that no one thought would ever happen. However they remembered that this was no ordinary man before them, this was one of the three of the most powerful Marines that they were dealing with.

This was Admiral Aokiji.

Surprisingly, it was Robin who struck first against Aokiji. With a look of pure rage on her face, Robin crossed her arms and yelled at the man who had taken away two of her dearest friends. "I will not allow you to take away another of my nakama, Aokiji! Treinta Flores (Thirty Flowers)!"

Dozens of arms sprang up, around, and on Aokiji as each arm grabbed the tall man in a vice-like grip. However, even though it appeared that Robin could kill Aokiji at any moment, he was the very picture of calm in the face of his imminent death.

"Now, now... I thought you would know better than that, Robin." Aokiji drawled on in a bored tone.

Robin ignored him and proceeded on with her attack, "Clutch!"

**CRACK!**

Everyone on the Steam Punk crew was stunned by how easily Robin had defeated the Admiral while he had defeated Luffy so easily. However, this shock was soon replaced with horror when they saw what was left of Aokiji's body. Instead of a broken corpse like they hoped, there was an Aokiji-sized pile of crushed ice where the tall admiral had once been standing.

Then, like a zombie rising from the grave, a single frozen hand reached up and out of the pile of ice. The hand was followed by an ice-coated sleeve and then Aokiji himself. The Admiral's body was completely covered in ice, with a few small cracks near his chest, but otherwise he was perfectly fine.

"That was pointless." Aokiji stated as the ice vanished from his body, revealing that he had taken no damage at all. The Admiral then reached down and ripped a handful of grass before throwing it into the air. As the grass fell, he exhaled an arctic gust from his lungs. "Ice Saber!"

The grass was frozen in mid-air as the frozen greens formed into a large, jagged saber. Then, seeing that the Steam Punks were still in shock, Aokiji grasped the hilt of his new weapon and swung it down at Robin.

Not having enough time to dodge, Robin put her arms in front of her body and braced herself for the cold sting of Aokiji's blade. Robin however was never cut, or even scratched, as someone else appeared in the blade's path.

**CLANG!**

Zoro had appeared in front of Robin and was blocking Aokiji's ice saber with his own blade. However the sheer power behind Aokiji's blade was slowly forcing Zoro to his knees as the frozen blade was biting into the edge of the green-haired man's swords.

"Get away from Robin-swan, you bastard!" With that mighty yell Sanji appeared from behind the green-haired swordsman and kicked the sword straight from the Admiral's hands. Following the blond cook was Bonney with her fist raised and her face aflame with rage.

"You bastard! I'm going to reduce you to diapers for what you did to Luffy-Kun."

Aokiji saw Bonney charging towards him and did nothing to dodge her attack. Instead he grabbed onto Zoro's arm and Sanji's leg to keep them in place. When Bonney's punch hit Aokiji's abdomen she expected a few things to happen, such as him being turned into a sobbing baby or even just a look of slight pain. What she didn't expect is that nothing would happen and Aokiji looking at her with that damn expressionless face that he always had.

"Were you expecting something to happen, Jewelry Bonney?" Aokiji asked as he stared down at the stunned pirate. Then to everyone's horror the areas where Zoro, Bonney, and Sanji where in contact with Aokiji began to freeze over as the ice on Aokiji spread to their bodies.

"AARRGGHH!"

All three warriors of the Steam Punk crew fell down onto the ground in pain as they held their now-frozen limbs in pain. Robin herself had moved to remove Bonney from Aokiji's grasp before he could fully freeze her since she seemed to be one of his targets. She lent her fellow crewmate her shoulder which she did not deny.

"OH NO, THIS IS BAD!" Chopper exclaimed as he looked at the frozen appendages of his crewmates. "If we don't do something soon they'll lose their limbs!"

Unseen by everyone small, spider web-like cracks began to form all over Luffy's frozen body as Bonney cried out in pain due to her frozen fist. Robin tried to get Bonney off the battle field but before she could do that Aokiji appeared in front of the two ladies with over half of his body transformed into ice.

"I'm sorry to say, but it looks like this is the end of the road for the two of you. Ice Time."

Then to the surprise of everyone he hugged the two women, but the surprise turned to horror as ice began to spread across their bodies. As the ice across their bodies and their friends shouted in horror Bonney managed to get out one last yell before she was completely frozen solid.

"LUFFY-KUN!"

**CRACK**

A loud shattering sound like a glass panel hitting the ground filled the air as Luffy completely shattered the ice that had surrounded him. The crew felt almost sick as the air thickened with a feeling of malevolence that threatened to snuff them out with but a single whim. Of course the bulk of killing intent was not leveled at the crew members themselves, it was leveled straight at the Marine Admiral.

"AOKIJI, GET AWAY FROM BONNEY-CHAN! Jōki Funshutsu (Steam Eruption)!"

With that, steam literally erupted from the soles of Luffy's boots, creating a loud whistle that the Steam Punk pirates knew by heart. The force of the steam was so powerful that Luffy shot off the ground and into the air, straight towards the Marine Admiral.

Aokiji didn't bother moving at all as he obviously thought that Luffy would go straight through him. The look of surprise on his face when Luffy grabbed his neck was not missed by anyone as Luffy dragged him through the air and away from his crew.

Before he was too far away from them he turned his head and yelled out an order, "Everyone, get Bonney and Robin away from here as fast as you can! I'll take care of Aokiji."

While most of the crew looked unhappy with their captain's request, they knew that they needed to treat their injured comrades before permanent damage could set in. So as quickly and as delicately as they could, the unfrozen individuals of the crew took their friends to the ship to get them treatment.

XXXXXXXXX

-Center of the Island-

Normally the wide open parries of Long Ring Long Island would be teeming with all the odd animals that called it home but, now all of the animals were hiding. After all, why would they want to get involved in a fight with two alpha predators?

It was once Luffy had flown them both about a mile away from the rest of the Steam Punks that Aokiji kneed him in the gut. This action forced Luffy to let go of the Marine Admiral, who quickly descended to the ground, followed by Luffy.

Now student and teacher face off against each other in a battle to shake the ages.

"I suppose I should thank you before we start this off Aokiji." Luffy said as he slowly fell into his fighting stance. Both of his arms were raised in front of him like a boxer as his feet stood shoulder width apart.

"Oh... And why would you thank me, Luffy?" Aokiji asked as he gently rubbed the developing bruise on his throat.

"Come now Aokiji don't play dumb." Luffy responded. "I know that you could've escaped at any time but you allowed me to take you out this far."

Aokiji was silent for a bit before he fell in his own respective fighting stance, "Does it really matter at this point?"

Luffy chuckled slightly before the furnace on his back started burning with an even greater intensity, steam pouring out of the vents like a volcano, "No… I suppose that it doesn't matter at this point."

With that, both superpowers leapt at each other, each believing that they would be able to defeat the other.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

-Back with the rest of the crew-

Meanwhile, the Steam Punk pirates had made it back to The Going Merry and were now furiously trying to treat their wounded. The Steam Punk's doctor, Chopper, and Ussop had brought Robin and Bonney into the ship's sauna. They hoped that the warm and moist environment of the room and the hot water they were constantly pouring over the two females would quickly melt Aokiji's ice.

"Are you sure that this will work?" Ussop asked as he dumped another bucket of steaming water over Robin's frozen form.

"I really don't know, Ussop." Chopper admitted, looking down, as he continued to pour hot water over Bonney. "I've treated frostbite before, since it was fairly common in the Drum Kingdom, but... this is something else. I've never seen a case like this before... it's almost too hard to believe they're still alive under that ice..."

This news seemed to set Ussop off as he suddenly rounded on Chopper, "Don't say that! You're our doctor and if you can't treat them...!" Ussop trailed off, with his angry expression dimming somewhat, "Then... then they're as good as dead."

"You think I don't know that?" Chopper snapped. "I KNOW what will happen if I can't treat them in time, Ussop! I'm just saying is that I've never dealt with this! I don't think anybody's dealt with this before! So just... be quiet and keep pouring the water over them!"

Ussop gritted his teeth together but said nothing, knowing it would only infuriate Chopper more, before hollering for another bucket of water. Nami quickly handed him a bucket before she went poured her own bucket of water over Robin's face.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

-Back in the Clearing-

The clearing was filled with the sounds of smacking fists as the two opponents traded blows with one another. They hadn't bothered using their Devil Fruit abilities and were quite content with testing the others defenses but that was about to change. A straight punch from Luffy, that would've easily been dodged normally, got into Aokiji's guard. And and that's exactly what the Admiral wanted.

_'Based on the fact that Luffy can actually land a blow on me without activating my defense means that he's mastered his Haki. That's easy enough to counter…' _With that Aokiji projected his Haki field and waited for the fist to pass right through him.

**WHAM**

With the force of a rampaging bull Aokiji was thrown into the air and away from Luffy. Luffy did not let this opportunity go by so with a blast of steam Luffy quickly caught up with Aokiji and delivered a viscous axe kick to the Admiral's gut and creating a creator in the ground where the Admiral landed. Spittle flew out of Aokijis mouth as his defense once again failed to protect him. Luffy had leaped back a bit and was merely waiting for

_'What the hell is going on? I was sure that I canceled out his Haki so how can he still hurt me?'_

Ever so slowly Aokiji got to his knees and stared at Luffy, trying to decipher how he had hurt him. Then he noticed something when je gripped the area where Luffy had hit him, it was warm.

_'What is this, it's warm? Could it be…'_Aokiji's attention was drawn to the furnace on his former apprentice's back, no longer was steam pumping out of it but for some reason the fires within it was still going strong. It all came together when he saw some steam leak from the gauntlets that Luffy wore.

"So..." Luffy's voice broke Aokiji from his contemplation. "Did you figure it out yet?"

Aokiji chuckled a bit as he stood to his full height and looked down at his student. "It's so simple, the answer I mean, that I'm almost insulted. The reason why you can hurt me is because of the steam, correct? You force it into your armor and heat it up to the point where it cancels out my ice form."

There was silence in the field for a bit before Luffy started laughing, "HA HA HA HA! I figured that you would be the one to figure this trick out Aokiji-sensei. But I am not limited to just heating up my armor with my steam."

Luffy raised his right hand into the air and cupped it as if he was gripping a round object. Then from the creases of his gauntlets came a steady stream of steam. Only this time it did not float away from Luffy, the steam began to swirl above his palm. The steam began to spin faster and faster until a ball of violently churning steam hovered just above his palm.

"I admit that I created this next attack just to piss off grandpa but it still packs a punch." Luffy then pulled his arm back and got into familiar stance that made Aokiji's eyes widen.

'_No way…he isn't crazy enough to copy "His" moves…is he?'_

"Jōki Ryūsei (Steam Meteor)!" Luffy lobbed the ball of steam like it was a baseball, but it moved much faster than any normal projectile. Unfortunately it was still not fast enough to hit an Admiral. Aokiji nimbly dodged to the side and watched as the attack tear up a good portion of the ground where it hit.

Aokiji looked at the damage that the attack left before he turned his attention back to Luffy, "You do know that when your Grandfather hears about this he's going to come after you himself, right?"

Though Aokiji couldn't see it he knew that Luffy was grinning underneath his mask as he formed two more of the steam cannon balls. "And what makes you think that worries me?"

Aokiji just shrugged his shoulders slightly before he fell back in his lazy stance, "I just wanted to let you know that your actions have consequences." Aokiji then swung his hand out in front of him as he shouted out his next attack. "Ice Spikes!"

The area in front of Aokiji was quickly engulfed in ice as hundreds of frozen jagged spikes raced towards Luffy intent on skewering him. Luffy wasted no time and threw the steam balls in his hands at the approaching ices. Though they did stop the advancing ice for a few seconds the gained ground was overcome by the ice behind it. Luffy quickly forced some steam through his boots as he flew off to the side to avoid the most of incoming ice.

Unfortunately before Luffy could return to the offensive Aokiji appeared behind him in a burst of Soru and tried to bisect him with an ice sword that he had created. Normally Luffy wouldn't have bothered trying to block a bladed attack but something told him that he shouldn't let that blade hit his torso. Trusting his instincts Luffy brought both of his forearms, where his armor was the sturdiest, up in defense just as the blade made contact with them. The sound of screeching metal filled the air as Luffy jumped back from Aokiji and inspected the damages to his armor.

What he saw shocked him.

Right where the sword met his armor were a series of deep scratches and gouges in the normally pristine armor. Before Luffy could contemplate what Aokiji had done to his armor, his ex-sensei's voice rang out through the field.

"Ice Partisan!"

Luffy looked up and saw a pair long spears made of ice flying towards him at impressive speeds. Deciding it was time that he quit dodging Luff raised both of his arms into the air and pointed them at the projectiles. "Atsuryoku Kyanon (Pressure Cannon)!"

Two compressed streams off steam shot from Luffy's hands and impacted against the partisans, both attacks canceling each other out in a cloud of steam and ice. Luffy stared at Aokiji for a second after their attacks met before he allowed his eyes to flicker to the ice saber still in his enemies hands. Unlike most of Aokiji's hastily made ice weapons this one seemed specially designed to take down armored opponents. All along the edge of the blade where small "teeth", like those on a saw blade, each one was as sharp as a normal sword and could have easily cut through regular armor.

_'Now it makes sense__;__ that sword of his is the reason that he can damage my_ armor!' Luffy thought in realization. _'Every time he slashes my armor it's like someone is running a saw blade over it.'_ His eyes narrowed, '_I can't allow it to touch me again._'

With that thought in mind, Luffy decided on his next course of action. He quickly fired off another Atsuryoku Kyanon at Aokiji while dashing to the left. Aokiji leaped into the air and transformed his arm into its icy counterpart. He then swung his open, icy fist towards Luffy.

Hundreds of shards flew broke off from Aokiji's arm, flying towards Luffy at speeds that them little more than blurs. Luffy tried to dodge by weaving in and out of the incoming projectiles but he could still hear the clang of those who did hit his armor. Unfortunately while Luffy was busy dodging for his life Aokiji was setting up his next attack.

After the assault had ended Luffy noticed that it was significantly colder than it had once been. All around Luffy was a thick a good portion of the area was frozen in ice that had spires and spikes of ice extending from the ground. Aokiji was a good thirty feet away from Luffy, on his knee, with both hands pressed against the ground as thick layers of ice spread from them. Everything was quiet for a moment before all icy hell broke loose.

"Ice Eruption"  Dozens if not hundreds of razor sharp spikes erupted around Luffy and closed in on him from all side, leaving no chance to escape. Seeing that he couldn't dodge this attack Luffy decide to get rid of it.

Luffy planted both feet into the ground to better support and crossed his arms in front of his chest. As Luffy began to concentrate the furnace on his back began to grow hotter and hotter as its owner fed his energy into it. "Subete No Sauna Mawari Ni (Sauna All Around)"

Right as the lances of ice were about to impale him, a thick fog of steam escaped from all the creases of his armor and melted all of the ice spikes. Not only did the steam melt the spikes it extended a good forty feet in all directions, encasing everything in a thick fog.

Luffy merely looked into the sauna that he created and tried to find the Admiral, _'And this is why I hate using that attack, I can never see through my own damn steam afterwards.'_ Luffy then extended his sense, and his Haki field, into the steam in an attempt to locate Aokiji. All was silent as Luffy tried to Locate Aokiji and it seemed that his old sensei had left the battle field, until….

Luffy's eyes flew open as he turned his head around just in time to see Aokiji appear behind him. Aokiji had his drawn back ready for a punch but unlike a normal punch he converted his fist into ice. Now, normally trying to punch someone while your fist is made out of a fragile material is a bad idea but this time was different. Instead of the clear white ice that he usually turned into his fist took on a deep blue color that was reminiscent of his namesake. Also it was unbelievably cold; the very air around his fist actually began to freeze.

With a quick motion, Aokiji thrust his hand into Luffy's furnace, seeming to ignore the roaring fires burning within, "Sub Zero Punch"

With something akin to horror and shock, Luffy watched as not only the flames of his furnace suddenly went out, large chunks of ice began to grow and climb out from the dead hearth. Luffy spun around and threw a right hook at Aokiji, trying to get his hand away from the furnace. Unfortunately, Aokiji merely leaped away from Luffy, satisfied with his work.

"It's over Luffy," Aokiji said as he watched Luffy try and break his furnace out of the ice. "Without that furnace of yours, you have no way of generating the steam you need for your attacks. Give up now and I will ignore that little outburst of rebellion earlier."

Then Luffy did something that Aokiji truly did not see coming…

**SMASH!**

With no hesitation what so ever Luffy reached behind his back and shattered his frozen furnace with a well-placed punch.

"You know Aokiji…" Luffy began as though he didn't just destroy his own weapon. "You always assumed that you knew my limits but… you know what? This battle is just getting started."

With that Luffy held his hands together in an odd gesture and muttered a single word underneath his breath. "Katsu"

**BOOM!**

With a loud explosion of sound and steam, Luffy's armor jettisoned itself off the young teen and into the air. Aokiji merely let the pieces that flew at him pass through his body, only to notice how each piece of armor sunk into the ground due to their heavy weight.

After a second or two, the left over steam finally dissipated and Aokiji finally got a better look at his wayward student without the armor hiding his view.

Luffy was extremely pale, which made sense considering how long that he must have kept that armor of his on. However, despite what his armor might suggest, Luffy had a lithe structure as all of Luffy's muscles were compact and spry.

Luffy wore a chainmail vest over his torso and a pair of hakama pants that had silver clouds and wisps stitched on it. His black hair hung down to his shoulders but none seemed to get into his eyes.

"And now it's time to get this party started right."

With that a thick, red-colored miasma surged from Luffy and obscured the boy from view. Aokiji knew that whatever Luffy was planning wouldn't be good so he charged at the steam with the intent of knocking Luffy out of it.

Just as he was about to punch through the miasma, a white blur shot out of it and caught his fist. Gripping his arm with surprising force was a pale white arm that had white fur running down from the top of the arm to the hand. Oddly enough, the fingernails belonging to this hand were ebony black, but it wasn't nail polish. It was as if that was the nails' natural color.

Aokiji tore his eyes away from the arm and looked into the rest of his student as the miasma finally dissipated. Staring at him squarely in the eyes was Luffy, but he was radically different.

Luffy was now as tall as Aokiji himself, looking him eye-to-eye, which allowed Aokiji to notice the red eyeliner that surrounded his former pupils' eyes. Luffy also possessed a pair of white horns on his head, which extended way past the boy's ears. Luffy's lower body appeared to have been replaced with a pair of horse legs. These legs, and Luffy's arms, were covered in soft white fur. To complete his look, Luffy possessed five long, thin tails that waved behind him slightly, steam slowly rising off of them.

"Now Aokiji-sensei…" The newly-transformed Luffy as he actually managed to lift Aokiji off of the ground. "Let's try this again, shall we?"

_'Oh crap'_ Aokiji thought as Luffy's transformed fist flew towards his head.

* * *

><p><strong>Techniques: <strong>

Ice Time: Kuzan touches his opponent's body, then freezes them into a human ice statue. They can remain alive in a form of suspended animation for some time in their icy prison, but any decent hit will shatter them to pieces. If the ice is melted quickly and carefully the victim can return back to normal without any lasting repercussions.

Treinta Flores (Thirty Flowers): Robin sprouts thirty arms. This number of arms being used as a named technique was first seen being used to choke several Marines that were blocking her way to the Alabasta tomb.

Ice Saber: Kuzan picks up several thin objects, such as blades of grass, and throws them into the air. He then blows on them with an icy breath that freezes them into a large, jagged sword of ice. During the Whitebeard War, Kuzan did not need to pick up objects to freeze the blade as seen when he stabbed Luffy.

Jōki Funshutsu (Steam Eruption): Using the steam that the furnace on his back created Luffy forces it out in great volume and speed from a hole in the bottom of his boots. The force from this action is enough to send Luffy into the air.

Jōki Ryūsei (Steam Meteor): One of Luffy's most used attacks. Luffy created this move off one of his grandfather's attacks. Using a combination of haki and his D.F power Luffy forms "steam orbs" which he can lob at enemies at high velocity. Thanks to the Haki shell around it, the orb can deliver bludgeoning damage to the enemy before it releases its hot contents.

Ice Spikes: One of Aokiji's standard attacks, he sends out a wave of ice that eventually splits of to form sharp spikes

Ice Partisan: Kuzan creates spears of ice and then hurls them at the enemy.

Atsuryoku Kyanon (Pressure Cannon): Using his special armor Luffy can shoot out a stream of stem out at high speed.

Ice Eruption:Aokiji surrounds his opponent in a thick field of ice. After the ice is thick enough he uses it as a base to launch hundreds of icy projectiles at an opponent.

Subete No Sauna Mawari Ni (Sauna All Around):  By using all the steam that he has stored up Luffy can use this area attack to not only severely burn his enemies but also he can use this to hide himself in the resulting fog. Unfortunately using this attack uses up all of his recovered steam, forcing Luffy to pause his attacks until it refills.

Sub Zero Punch: One of Aokiji's secret moves this attack focuses on the most fundamental power of the Hie Hie fruit, freezing. By converting his fist into ice and then lower the temperature of the ice into the negative triple digits Aokiji can freeze most any matter in seconds.

**A/N: Thank you all for reading, hopefully I'll have the final part of Gobi done soon and then it's on to Rokubi. Remember leave a review or else Sniper Kitty will get you.**


	8. Final Round FIGHT!

**Uggghh, finally the end of Gobi. Sorry that this chapter is shorter than the others but I didn't want to force out a story that I didn't have.**

"People Talking"

'_People thinking'_

"Techniques being used"

"**Demons talking"**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece or Naruto or else Luffy would be paired up with Boa and Robin while Naruto would be with Hinata.

* * *

><p><span>Gobi:<span> Final Round. FIGHT!

XXXXXXXXXXX

_"Now Aokiji-sensei…" The newly-transformed Luffy as he actually managed to lift Aokiji off of the ground. "Let's try this again, shall we?"_

_'Oh crap' Aokiji thought as Luffy's transformed fist flew towards his head._

XXXXXXXXXXX

In the middle of a field on Long Ring Island the normally calm and serene fields were ablaze with the sounds of battle. The endless grasslands were torn up and frozen from the attacks that created them. All of a sudden a large blur flew through the air and impacted against the ground. The impact caused dust and earth to fly into the air, obscuring the figure within the impact site from view.

"Owww…"

From within the trench that was carved out from the impact of the person within, came a long slender hand followed by the person that it was connected to. Once the person fully pulled himself out of the hole it could be clearly seen that the figure was Aokiji but he now had a bright red bruise on the right side of his face. Aokiji lifted his right hand up to his face and turned it to ice as he placed it on his bruised cheek.

'_What the heck was that? It felt like his hand was on fire.'_

Aokiji could no longer afford to think any further as he found a hoofed foot implanted into his gut. Apparently Luffy wasn't about to let Aokiji regain his bearings and with speeds that seemed impossible, Luffy had appeared before the admiral and Spartan kicked him right in the chest. The force of the attack sent Aokiji flying into the air.

Before he got very far, Aokiji was yanked straight out of the air by one of Luffy's tails. One of the billowy white tails had latched onto Aokiji's legs and stopped his flight with a hard yank that almost dislocated the admiral's leg. Luffy then slammed Aokiji into the ground and proceeded to lay into him with dozens of powerful blows with his fist. As Luffy continued punching the downed Admiral one of his tails began to release steam in a powerful spiral stream. The steam spun faster and faster until it formed into a white drill.

"O Doriru (Tail Drill)"

Luffy's tail surged forward and pierced Aokiji's chest, surprising Luffy greatly. Luffy honestly didn't think that he would be able defeat his former sensei so easily. Just as he was about to withdraw his tail from the "corpse" the color began to drain from the body, leaving only a clear crystal sculpture of Aokiji.

That was when Luffy knew that this was a trap.

"Ice Explosion!"

Spikes rapidly grew from the Ice-Aokiji in an icy version of a fiery explosion. Luffy did his best to avoid the spikes, but even with his impressive speed Luffy was injured multiple times by a few of the more close calls. Eventually the onslaught of ice ended and Luffy could breathe a sigh of relief. Where there was once a crater with an Aokiji sculpture in it, now there was a 10 foot spire of ice that had dozens of spike extending from it.

"Tell me Luffy…" Aokiji said as he walked out from behind the spire, "Did you honestly think that this was going to be that easy?"

"You know what…" Luffy began to say as a smug grin began to spread across his face, "for a minute there, yeah I did." With that Luffy leapt at Aokiji, ready to defeat him once and for all

XXX-Back on the ship-XXX

On the deck of the Going Merry a veritable cloud of depression surrounded the normally joyful deck. Three of the Steam punks, Zoro, Nami, and Sanji, were waiting for the news that they both hoped and feared for.

Whether or not their nakama survived.

Nami was pacing back and forth in front across the deck of the ship but would occasionally stop and take a quick look at the infirmary door before she returned to her pacing. Zoro merely sat on one of the rails and stared out at the fields while Sanji was sitting against the mast, listlessly smoking his fifth cigarette in the last few minutes.

While Nami was consumed with worry for her friends, Zoro and Sanji were taking this predicament especially hard. They both felt that it was their fault that their friends were hurt, that they were too weak and because of that their nakama were hurt.

'_Damn it…._' Zoro thought as he stared out at the island awaiting the sign of any hint that his captain was alright. _'Am I still that weak? Was all of my training for nothing?' _Zoro would've gripped Kuina's blade for comfort but he could not do that now. His arm, still reeling from the state that the Admiral had put it in, was unable to grasp his friend's precious memento.

'_Twice now I have beaten like a child, twice now I have failed to uphold my promise. How can I call myself the greatest swordsman if I can't even protect my friends?' _Zoro tried to banish away the negative thoughts, but they only buried further into his mind.

Sanji wasn't that better off than Zoro was. Like Zoro, he was reflecting on the loss that Admiral Aokiji had dealt them and how they couldn't protect Bonney and Robin. The guilt that he felt from his thoughts was unbearable so he resolved to stare at the door that led to Chopper's Infirmary.

_'My dearest Bonney-swan, Robin-swan... I'm so sorry. I couldn't even touch that guy. It... it was like fighting the force of winter itself, simply impossible. And now..._' Sanji released a breath, the strands of smoke of his cigarette curling around his face. _'We've left Luffy to deal with that monster alone...'_ His teeth clenched against his cigarette, biting through the paper that held the tobacco together, as another wave of icy pain washed through his leg. _'Damn it... Damn it all!'_

The sound of an opening door drew all three of the Steam Punks' attention away from their own thoughts and towards the door to Chopper's Infirmary. Stepping out of the door with his head down was Ussop with a half-filled bucket of water in his hands. The fact that they couldn't make out Ussop's expression started to fill the rest of the crew's hearts with dread since they assumed that the worst had happened. The next person that came out of the room put Nami, Zoro, and Sanji's minds at ease; it was Chopper and he had an enormous grin on his face.

"It was a difficult case to treat but..." Chopper made the peace sign with his hooves. "They're okay!"

Only a couple moments later, Bonney and Robin walked out of the infirmary to the joy of their nakama. While both had heavy blankets on and were soaking wet, they appeared to be the picture of perfect health.

"So, why are you sissies standing around and crying so much?" Bonney demanded through chattering teeth. "You're making me feel as if we're at some funeral... Geez!"

The Steam Punks couldn't help but laugh at Bonney's all-too familiar lack of manners; it was good to see that she didn't let the near-death experience change her. After a few moments, the Steam Punks managed to pull themselves together. However, it was then that Ussop noticed something, or rather someone, was amiss.

"Hey... where's Luffy at?" Ussop asked, curious. "Didn't he escape from that ice prison by himself or is he in the lower decks?"

The good mood that had descended upon the crew evaporated at his question. Solemn faces replaced ones that had once been filled with joy as no one made a sound. Ussop took notice of the uncomfortable silence before he looked around and saw he sorrowful expression on his nakama's faces. The gears finally began turning in his mind as he put the puzzle pieces together and just a few agonizing seconds later he erupted with rage.

"He isn't back yet? Why the hell haven't you gone after him then?" Ussop grabbed onto Sanji's arm before he began to shake him back and forth angrily. "I know that Luffy is strong but... how the hell can you leave to fight that... that MONSTER all by himself?"

Sanji slapped Ussop's hands away from him as his expression shifted angrily. "You think that we WANT to stand aside while Luffy risks his life, Ussop? Do you know how much this is hurting us right now, to know that we can do NOTHING against that monster while our captain fights FOR US?"

**BAM**

Both would've continued arguing if it wasn't for the well placed fist to their heads thanks to an irate Bonney. "Shut the hell up! You make it sound like Luffy-kun has no chance against this guy!" She then yanked both men to their feet and glared straight into their eyes." If you ever lose faith like that again then I'll kick you off the ship myself."

The crew was stunned; to be threatened with expulsion from the crew was one of the most damning punishments that they could think of. Before they could try and talk Bonney out of her rage something truly terrifying happened. Out in the horizon two gigantic attacks, both hundreds of feet in height met on the field. One was a gigantic glacier of the coldest temperature, the other a tornado of the hottest steam. The resulting clash between the two attacks produced shock waves that were felt all the way at the ship.

_'Luffy-kun'_ Bonney thought as she stared out into the grasslands, _'Please be okay...'_

XXXXBack in the Battle FieldXXXX

The battlefield in which Admiral Aokiji and Luffy had been reduced to something seen during a war. Most of the field was covered in a thick sheet of ice, making the normally endless grassland a barren, frozen wasteland. That was not the true extent of the damage, however, as hanging throughout the entire field was a thick blanket of steam. It hovered in the air just above the ice, as if trying to erase the existence of the thing that dared defy it.

Standing in-between a pair of curved ice spires was Admiral Aokiji. The Admiral's arms were raised and he was breathing heavily from the exertion of his previously attacks. His normally pristine suit was torn and scuffed from the prolonged battle.

The Admiral's normally calm expression had been replaced with something entirely different. His eyes were like ice, chipped straight off from the coldest and oldest of the world's glaciers. His usual lax face was now the very essence of icy cold determination.

No longer was this man Kuzan, the dutiful sensei to Monkey. D. Luffy. That man had been suppressed as the fighting began anew. He was now the pinnacle of strength and discipline of the Marines. He was Admiral Aokiji, the "Blue Pheasant".

Standing right before Admiral Aokiji, right where the steam was the thickest, was Luffy. Like the Admiral, he had not come out of their prolonged battle unscathed. His body was riddled with dozens of cuts that bled black ichor-like blood and bruises from when he wasn't able to dodge Aokiji's ice. Luffy's arms were held up in front of him in a cross-guard position; the fur that adorned them covered in flecks of ice and, in some places, matted down with his own blood.

However, despite this, Luffy couldn't help but grin at the current circumstances. Unlike his normal grins though, this grin was one of someone who truly enjoyed combat The pounding of fists against one another as two equals met on the field of war.

Also, the fact that the man standing before him was his former sensei sparked a new determination in Luffy. He wanted to surpass the man that stood before him. To rise above his infamous sensei and prove how strong he really was.

It was all so exhilarating._ 'How long has it been...? How long has it been since someone has pushed me this far? The thrill of a fight that you can't predict the outcome of... there is no greater feeling than that...'_

"So..." Luffy began, breaking out of his inner monologue. "You're finally taking me seriously then?"

Aokiji features did not waver at Luffy's question but he did answer him, "I see now that you are resolute in your decision to not return to the marines and to ask again would be an insult to you. The only thing I can do for you now is make your death as painless as possible."

With that Aokiji threw his hand into the air as if he were tossing something underhanded.

"Ice Geyser!" From the ice below Luffy's feet a frozen geyser leapt up at the hanyo captain as it tried to encompass him. Luffy did not stand idle while the attack tried to consume him though, with a mighty leap that was aided by the force of his tails smashing into the ground Luffy dodged the attack and flew towards Aokiji.

As Luffy flew through the air he held his hand out to his side, readying his next attack. Steam seeped from his skin as it began to violently twist around in his palm. But unlike the Jōki Ryūsei this attack almost seemed like it as contained within a shell of light as the torrential motions that made up its insides rotated in countless directions. "Rasenjōki (Spiraling Steam)"'

Luffy thrusted his attack into Aokiji's abdomen, sending the man forty feet away from him before his attack expanded into a huge, swirling dome. He then watched as Aokiji was suspended in mid-air before twisters of boiling steam violently restrained the man's limbs and lapped at his skin.

Normally, hitting an enemy with one of his strongest attacks would've brought satisfaction to Luffy's face but the surprising lack of screaming from Aokiji worried him. His Rasenjoki was a complicated move that expanded once it hit a target, quickly restraining said target, before the steam that made it up burned it to death. Obviously this caused a lot of pain for the victim, yet Aokiji was as cool as a cucumber. If he didn't know any better Luffy would've thought that…

'_Oh crap.'_

Luffy took a quick look around in his surroundings that confirmed his suspicions. All around him, like mad ice sculptor's gallery, were dozens of ice statues all in various poses, all acting in a sloth like manner. Aokiji then shimmered into existence a dozen yards away from Luffy with his hand raised and his fingers ready to snap them.

"That was the one thing that you never could learn Luffy. Sometimes you have to use deception to win a battle, Aurora Cluster Grenade"

Each ice clone returned to its original glassy color and exploded in a blizzard of shards that were sharper than any blade. Thousands of the shards flew through the air towards Luffy with the intent to maul him. Luffy knew that dodging this attack would do more harm than good so he did the only thing that was available to him.

Bunker down and attack.

Luffy's tails began to furiously whip around his body at speeds that left them little more than blurs. Soon though super-heated steam pumped through his tails and formed a thick barrier around Luffy. When the first wave came they melted against the barrier but the thickness of the mist thinned. As time went on some of the shards pierced deeper and deeper into the defense. Just as the rain of shards began to slacken some managed to bypass the barrier and the sound of slicing flesh became much more frequent.

After a bit, the last of the ice shards hit the barrier and melted at the remaining heat from the steam. With the end of the attack the steam that hung in the air bellowed forth as through the unseen grasp that held it in place was released. The normal, clear visibility was reduced to a few feet, if even that. Aokiji took this time to take in a few deep breaths in order to regain the energy that he has lost in the last attack.

Normally, he could've used that move all day long without stopping but he knew that his student would have something to counteract his attack. So he had overloaded the move with a lot of his energy in hopes that he would be able to pierce his student's defense. Now he merely waited to see if his attack was effective or not.

"Gobi Doriru (Five-Tail Drill)!"

From within the mist five tails covered in white drills rocketed towards Aokiji. Aokiji would've used Soru you get out of the way of the attack but he was still tired from his previous offensive against Luffy. So using the reflexes that were gained from thousands of hours in combat Aokiji weaved his way past most of the attacks. Unfortunately even his quick reaction couldn't save him from the tail that attacked from his blind side. While he managed to move out of the way so the tail wouldn't pierce him through his chest he couldn't move far enough to avoid the steam that surrounded it. Aokiji's chest erupted with blood as a deep spiral line carved its way down his body.

Aokiji immediately leapt back, right hand hovering over his wound, trying to stop the bleeding by freezing the wound shut. As he was doing this the tails retracted themselves into the steam just as a gust of wind began to blow it away. As the last of the steam as blown away by the wind Aokiji could finally see how much damage his attack really did to Luffy.

Luffy's body was riddled with cuts that oozed his black blood out onto the grass beneath him. He had one eye closed as blood fell over it from a cut on his forehead. Some of the ice shards were stuck in his body, making him look like some sort of malformed hedgehog.

"Well Aokiji…" Luffy began before he was forced to put his hands to his mouth as a hacking cough ran through his body. When he pulled his hands away they were mildly stained with his black blood. "It seems that we're pretty much on equal terms in the ways of strength."

Aokiji took his hand away from his fully frozen wound and looked straight at Luffy, "As much as I hate to admit it you have grown more powerful since the last time that I saw you… Powerful enough to be considered a real threat. Unfortunately if we continue fighting at this level then we would be here for a while."

"So then are you considering letting me go?" Luffy asked with a slight hopeful expression on his face.

"No," Luffy's face fell. "Now it means that I'll have to take this fight to the next level." With that Aokiji raised both of his arms to the side then concentrated. From his arms two long, branch like limbs of ice extended from his hands and into the ground.

"Ice God"

From the implanted ice a creeping cold started to come into existence. Twin trails of ice formed a perfect circle around Aokiji as the ice frosted over the grass that was inside the circle. Then from the frozen grass a massive ice tower rose into the sky like a skyscraper. The ice was so cold that a layer of frozen air already formed around it, obscuring Aokiji from view.

_'What the heck is this technique?' _Luffy thought._ 'All he did was surround himself in ice…Is it a defensive move of some kind? And is it… melting?'_

The massive pillar of ice did seem to be growing smaller and smaller but… there was no water. Luffy looked at the ground around the pillar and saw that even though the tower was growing smaller there was no water coming from the base. In fact if Luffy didn't know better he would say that the ice tower was collapsing in on itself like a black hole. Then Luffy realized that he had wasted too much time thinking.

_'Crap, the tower is almost completely gone and all I have been doing is standing around and gawking at it. I need to stop this now!'_

Luffy then raised both of his arms up with his palms pointing towards the ever shrinking tower. A look of concentration appeared on Luffy's face as wisps of steam began to leak from his hands. Then, all five of his wait tails impaled the ground behind him to give him the support that he need for his next attack.

"Uma Sattō (Horse Stampede)."

From Luffy's outstretched hands came a dizzying, thirty foot wall of steam. As more steam escaped from Luffy's hands, it began to twist and turn into ghostly, horse-like shapes. When the last of the steam had formed, there stood around 100 fully-grown steam stallions.

Without any visible signal, the stallions rushed towards the shrinking spire. The stallions' heat was apparent when the ice in their path melted, the grass burning beneath their ghostly hooves. It was seconds later that they reached Aokiji's ice tower Just as the last of it disappeared.

"Freeze…"

In the blink of an eye, a wave of pure ice flew from the spot where the tower had been and washed over all of the horses, freezing them in place. What was surprising was that the ice didn't appear to be melting at all, even with the stallions' heat.

Luffy could honestly say that he stunned into silence; never before had his attack been so easily blocked. Then, with a sound like thunder, all of the frozen stallions shattered like glass, allowing Luffy to see what his former sensei had become.

Standing in front of him was Aokiji, but vastly different from the Aokiji that Luffy knew.

This Aokiji stood at a height of 20 feet with his skin being a deep, dark blue, as if he was suffering from an extreme case of frostbite. He was wearing a silvery-white cloak that extended all the way down to his feet, over his regular outfit, and a headdress on his head. The feathers that would've normally been there were replaced with hundreds of long thin icicles that extended from the band around his forehead.

**"This is it, Luffy"** Aokiji said as he stared down at Luffy. Unlike his normal voice, this form gave him a voice similar to the howling winds of the artic. **"This is the ultimate technique for Logia users, Transcendence. We give up our physical bodies to become one with our elements."**

Luffy had a small flashback of a certain lightning man that he fought who became a living incarnation of lightning. But this didn't make sense, if Aokiji had this up his sleeve then why hadn't he used it before?

That was when he noticed the cracks spreading across Aokiji's neck.

"You can't keep that form on for long, can you?" The minute twitch in Aokiji's face told Luffy everything that he needed to know. "This is your ace in the hole isn't it? After this you'll be completely out of energy."

Aokiji looked down at Luffy before he began to speak once again. **"You are correct Luffy."** He then lifted one blue hand in front of him as a cold mist began to surround it. **"All I have left in me is one more attack."**

That did nothing to comfort Luffy since he knew that this attack would be stronger then all of Aokiji's previous attacks combined. He knew that he would have to counter Aokiji's attack with his own if he wanted to survive.

Luckily for him though, he had his own ace in the hole. "Okay then, I suppose that I should use my full power as well."

A red cloud of energy formed around Luffy as his body underwent another transformation. The cloud grew bigger and bigger until it was twice as tall as Aokiji was. A giant white tail cut through the miasma which was then followed by another and another until all five tails blew it away revealing Luffy's full Bijū form for the first time in many years.

Like before Luffy's Bijū form resembled a gigantic white horse with five white tails. Luffy's head now resembled a dolphins with for long horns coming from the back of it. He also had deep blue eyes and red markings around the eyes. Unlike before, Luffy now could change the size of his Full Bijū Form so he greatly reduced the size of it. He wanted to keep the battle on even ground of course.

"**Well Aokiji let's finish this…Winner takes all."**

Aokiji nodded once then cupped his hands in front of him. Shards of ice slowly began to appear in Aokiji's hands as they slowly started to revolve around one another. The shards of ice then fused together to form a sphere of brilliant white ice that seemed to have a revolving core.

Luffy was not idle during this time as his tail released hundreds of black and white balls of pure energy around himself. His tails then curved around his body until each one had its tip pointing at a single point in front of his mouth. Then the balls of energy began to rush towards that single point and fuse with one another to form a single huge ball of energy. The ball then collapsed in on itself making a much smaller and denser attack while creating a massive creator around Luffy. Then Luffy cracked open his jaws and…swallowed the orb. Immediately Luffy's body expanded as though he was an overinflated balloon. A bright white escaped from Luffy's enclosed mouth along with steam as the compressed energy tried to escape from his body.

All was silent for a second before both juggernauts released both of their attacks.

"**Bijūdama! (Tailed Beast Ball)"**

"**Emperor Pheasant Beak!"**

Luffy opened his jaws and released a massive beam of pure destruction that obliterated anything that was in its way. Aokiji on the other hand released the ball of ice where it immediately twisted into the shape of a massive elegant pheasant that flew straight towards Luffy's attack. The bird was so cold that towers of frozen air actually formed in the wake of its path.

Both attacks met each other with a giant explosion that could be seen from miles away from the island. After the attacks were finished all that was left of the once beautiful field was a massive crater and a thick fog of steam. Then from within the steam a tall figure arose over one that was lying on the ground. A sudden gust of wind began to blow away the stem revealing the figure to be…

**END!**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Techniques:<span>**

1. O Doriru (Tail Drill): Luffy covers one of his tails in steam then uses his Haki and demon chakra to form it into a drill.

2. Ice Explosion: Aokiji creates an ice clone to bring his enemies close then he "detonates" the clone causing the ice within it to rapidly expand and grab onto the opponent.

3. Ice Geyser: Freezing the ground in front of him, Aokiji creates a tower of ice spikes that impales opponents, greatly damaging them.

4. Rasenjōki (Spiraling Steam): Luffy creates a sphere of energy with his demonic energy then fills it with his steam. Then using his Haki as a core, Luffy spins the steam creating a large amount force in the attack. Once it hits an enemy the sphere expands and traps the enemy by using the boiling steam within.

5. Aurora Cluster Grenade: A much larger version of the Ice Explosion. Aokiji Creates multiple ice clones around an opponent by use of Soru. Once the opponent is surrounded Aokiji detonates them and encases his opponent in ice.

6. Gobi Doriru (Five-Tail Drill): A stronger version of the O Doriru where Luffy uses all of his tails instead of one.

7. Ice God: Aokiji's strongest technique. With it he becomes the very incarnation of ice itself.

8. Bijūdama! (Tailed Beast Ball): The ultimate technique of a tailed beast. To form the attack, they gather both positive black chakra and negative white chakra shape it into a sphere, and then compress it inside their mouth. The energy is then released in a large beam of destruction.

9. Emperor Pheasant Beak: Aokiji's strongest attack, by shaping an animate statue of the coldest temperatures Aokiji can defeat most any opponent.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Bet you didn't expect that did you? I forgot that the point of these challenge one shots was to inspire people to take up the story. So if you want to know who won the fight then take up the story yourself if you want to. So check out my new story Black Blood Wood Pecker and leave a review or two. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	9. Rokubi, Acid Bloom

**A/N Authors Note: Sorry this took longer than I said it would, I keep underestimating who long it would take me to finish up my chapters. **

"Someone talking."

"_Someone thinking." _

"Techniques being used."

"**Demons talking."**

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 9:<span> Rokubi, Acid Bloom

(Grand Line—Saboady Archipelago)

The Saboady Archipelago was one of the most popular, and dangerous, islands in all of the Grand Line. However despite being called an archipelago the island is actually a giant mangrove forest that was growing out in the middle of the ocean. The intertwining roots of the forest served as a stable ground for the island's inhabitants without fear of plunging into the ocean below.

Due to the island's close proximity to the part of the Red Line that bordered the end of the first half of the Grand Line and the beginning of the New World; it was a highly visited rest stop for all sorts of travelers to prepare for their journey into the New World.

Unfortunately, not all of the people that docked at Saboady come to take in the sights or stock up on basic supplies. No, they came because, despite the ordinary appearance that the islander tried to portray, the Saboady was one of the most lawless areas of the Grand Line. The island was divided into multiple sections, called groves, ranging from the lawless areas where pirates and bandits frequented to the tourist areas where the more law-abiding citizens lived. Many pirates who were preparing for the New World made it a policy to stop by the lawless areas where they could buy illegal goods without worry of being caught by any pesky Marines.

That wasn't the worst of it though; the Saboady Archipelago was also the home of the most heinous of acts and was actively protected by the Marines. That act was the practice of slavery. Many people came to the island to visit and buy from the multiple slave shops on the island. This was not limited to Humans however, as Mermaids, Giants, Dwarves, and members of various tribes from around the world were enslaved and sold here as well.

Normally, businesses such as these would've been shut down a long time ago by the Marines but two important factors kept them open. One, most if not all of the buildings that were home to these businesses were owned by Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the seven Shichibukai. As part of his terms for joining the Shichibukai, Doflamingo had been allowed to keep his slave businesses on the archipelago running as a legal business. Not that many people actually knew he owned more than one of them though.

The other reason was because the Tenryubito demanded that it be left open, and whatever the Tenryubito wanted they got from the World Government. It was because of them that hundreds of people were captured, enslaved, and then sold to the highest-paying bidder The sad truth was that no one ever stood up to stop this obviously wrong act for fear of their lives.

Until today that is.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

(Saboady Archipelago—The Human Auction House)

Located within Grove 1 of Saboady Archipelago was the Human Auction House—Public Security Employment Offices, if you're a Marine who's looking the other way—the oldest of all the slave houses on the Saboady Archipelago. Usually things ran pretty smoothly; a shipment of slaves were delivered, people bid on the slaves, they sold the slaves and repeat the process next week.

Today was not "usual" by any means.

Today the Human Auction House was hosting to three groups of very special people; Kid Pirates, the Heart Pirates, and the Saiken Pirates. Eustass "Captain" Kid, leader of the Kid Pirates, was one of the Eleven Supernovas, a group of Pirates from one generation whose bounties exceeded one hundred million belie. Kid was a pale, muscular man with bright red hair that greatly resembled flames. He has black circles around his dark red eyes, and dark purple lips. His nose had a particular shape, being quite pointed and having little protrusions on both sides. He has dark colored fingernails and no eyebrows above his eyes.

He was dressed in extravagant attire consisting of black and yellow lizard-print pants with a red fringe, motorcycle boots, and a blue sash under a green belt fastened by a large circular buckle with a four-leaf clover-like pattern in the middle. He was also wearing a pair of studded, square shaped goggles on his forehead, and a large fur captain's coat chest. The collar of the coat was extremely flared and wide as though it belonged to some type of royalty.

Kid was known far and wide for his brutal methods and not being shy about civilian casualties, which is why he had the second highest bounty amongst the Supernovas.

A few rows away from Kid was another one of the Supernovas, Trafalgar Law. Law was a slim man of average height. He had faint shadows under both of his gray eyes, and a faint smirk on his lips. He has black hair but a majority of it was obscured, save for his sideburns and small black goatee, by the northern-style fur hat that he wore.

He was wearing a black-sleeved yellow hoodie with a smiley face within a gear on the front of his chest and the sleeves of the shirt were rolled up. Law also sported a pair of jeans with odd markings on both the knee and ankles and a pair of dark, pointed shoes. Finally he was wearing a pair of earrings on each ear.

He had tribal-style tattoos engraved on his arms and on his left hand were the letters D, E, A, T, and H tattooed in black each on the back of his fingers. Law was the captain of the Heart Pirates and while not as feared as Kid, his epitaph of "The Surgeon of Death" did strike fear in the hearts of many.

However, it was the third group that was most interesting; they were the Saiken Pirates a relatively new group of pirates that had made some big waves in the world. Since the Saiken Pirates had formed less than a year ago, they had been involved in events that would've sent a normal pirate crew running for their lives. Not only had they been involved in the downfall of the Shichibukai Crocodile and the freeing of the Alabasta Kingdom-no matter what the marines had said- but they were also responsible for the the destruction of Enies Lobby and the defeat of the World Government's CP9.

However, only four members of the infamous rookie crew were currently within the auction house. They were "Black Leg" Sanji, "Cat Burglar" Nami, "Cyborg" Franky, and "Cotton Candy Eater" Chopper.

The odd thing about the Pirates was that none of them looked like they wanted to be in the auction house at all. With each new person that was bought and sold the more the looks of disgust grew on all of their faces.

"How much longer do we have to sit through this?" Chopper—in his Heavy Point form—asked with a small scowl on his face.

Nami frowned at Chopper's question but started talking none the less, "We just need to stay here until they bring out Keimi and get her out of here."

The reason that the Saiken Pirates were here was because of their newest friend, Keimi the mermaid. She had been captured by a local gang and then sold to the Human Auction House for an obscene amount of money. Normally, the Saiken Pirates would've just destroyed the place but, as Saboady was very close to Marineford, they had decided that discretion was the better part of valor.

"This isn't right." Franky muttered. "We should just bust mermaid-sis out of here before they even put her on stage."

"No, no." A man to Franky's right stated. "If you do that, you'll call down the entire navy on our heads. It's better to rescue Keimi this way."

The man who had had just spoken to Franky was a very odd looking fellow. He had a face that resembled an octopus of some kind and he had two rows of long, blue spikey hair. He wore a jacket that seemed to bulge around the center and a bandage over his forehead. This man was Hachi and he was an Octopus Fishman, though you couldn't tell thanks to his disguise.

Hachi was originally an enemy to the Saiken Pirates, more specifically to Nami herself, but after a series of events his past sins were forgiven and he could now call himself a friend to them. And that was the reason why he was trying to keep them from making too much of a scene. With them being this close to Marineford it wouldn't be a surprise if the Marines sent an Admiral after them because of Luffy's notoriety.

After all, Hachi did hear the rumors about what their captain did to Eneis Lobby when their crewmate Robin was taken captive. And he believed them all since he saw firsthand what Luffy would do if anyone hurt a member of his nakama. Hachi still had nightmares about what Luffy did to Arlong after he learned about what he did to Nami.

While the present members of the Saiken Pirates might not have liked it, they knew that Hachi was right. Even with their captain's awesome strength, and the recent, unwanted additions to their crew's roster, there was no way that they were coming out of a fight against the entire marine force unscratched. So they all bit their tongues as another slave was led away and the next one appeared on stage.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Meanwhile—On the Thousand Sunny)

At the moment, one could find the deck of the Thousand Sunny littered with the unconscious bodies of bandits that had tried to hijack the ship. Obviously they had never considered the prospect that the Saiken crew would've left a guard behind.

"Why the hell did I get stuck with guard duty?" A cloaked man asked as he dropped another body to the floor. "... I know I drew the short straw but why couldn't it have been that stupid cat?"

The man's tirade against the perceived injustices against him was cut off by a subtle vibration that came from his wrist. The man extended one of his arms from the cloak to reveal a small vibrating wrist-watch type device that was clasped to his tanned arm. The man then flipped the watch open revealing a black Den-Den Mushi that immediately began talking. "Wolf, this is Bull, can you read me?"

The man then pushed a button that was on the side of the Den-Den watch and began to speak. "This is Wolf, what's the problem. Did Leopard fall in some water?"

"No, we just received word from the captain. Apparently he wants us to be prepared in case of a Marine attack. He found out where the slavers took Keimi and he's heading over there immediately. He said to expect some fireworks soon."

With that the black Den-Den Mushi went back to sleep, leaving the man to grin at what he just heard. While he and his teammates may have been new members of the Saiken Prates, and former enemies of the same group, he knew that whenever there was chaos their Captain Luffy wouldn't be that far behind.

"Gyaaa ha ha ha ha! I knew that joining this crew was a great idea, there's always some sort of fight right around the corner!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

(-Human Auction House-)

The Saiken Pirates were literally vibrating with anger as they watched a would-be slave bite off his own tongue instead of being sold off. This was just the last of a long line of horrible things they had seen, and their anger was beginning to show.

Franky's normally joyful expression had long since fled as every so often his hands would twitch towards one of the many hidden weapons that were on or in his body. Just one wrong move from the snooty nobles around him and he would release all of his pent up rage onto them.

Chopper was gritting his teeth together as he watched people be lead off into lives of turmoil and suffering. The doctor inside of him was up in arms over not being able to do anything to help them but he restrained himself.

Nami had long since broken out in a cold sweat as she watched a girl her age be bought by a man that was twice her age who had obviously less than pure intentions planned for her. What made it worse was the very thought that it could have been her up there if she had been the one who had been captured instead of Keimi.

Sanji was much better at hiding his inner struggle but the fact that he was on his fifth cigarette showed how agitated he was. The butts of his other cigarettes littered the ground around his seat while he was crushing the empty cigarette carton within his clenched grip.

The only thing that kept the Saiken Pirates' rage in check was the thought of getting their friend back without a fight. But even with that thought, it was obvious that they were barely restraining themselves from losing control of their emotions and attacking.

As the group waited for their friend to be brought on stage a trio of Tenryūbito, Saint Rosewald and his two children, entered the Human Auction House in their usual fat obtrusive way and begun waiting to see if anyone of interest would be put up for sale.

The manager of the Human Auction House walked out on stage and addressed the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the final product on today's auction." He grinned as he continued talking. "The rarity of this item should be enough to completely blast all other items out of the water. So pull out your wallets and prepare yourselves..."

A couple of the House workers then wheeled a large object that was covered under a tarp onto the stage. A bright light was then shown from beneath the tarp revealing the outline of a mermaid. The crowd began to murmur to each other excitedly as the announcer continued talking.

"And now ladies and gentlemen feast your eyes upon the beast that many try to capture but few succeed. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you straight from Merman Island it's the mermaid Keimi!"

With that the tarp wad pulled away from the object revealing it to be a large fish tank with Keimi chained inside of it. Like all the others who were led onto the stage she had an explosive collar around her neck. The crowd instantly erupted into excited chatter as they hadn't seen a mermaid be auctioned off for years. The youngest of the Tenryūbito, Charloss, had his beady little eyes pop out of his fat face at the sight of the beautiful creature before him.

"It's the real thing. A mermaid, they're really selling a mermaid!"

"Keimi! It's Keimi at last!" Hachi yelled in happiness.

Nami rolled up her sleeve as her worried expression morphed into one of determination. "All right it's time to get her back. We have about two hundred million to burn if we need to!"

Just as she was about to bid for Keimi's freedom a loud and obnoxious voice cut through the air.

"Five hundred million! I'll bid five hundred million berries for the mermaid!" Charloss yelled over the chatter of the lesser nobles.

In an instant, everyone who was about to bid was stunned into silence by the obscene amount of money that the Tenryūbito had bid for the Mermaid. The other nobles in the room began grumbling at never standing a chance at getting the Mermaid for themselves but it was the Saiken Pirates who were affected the most by the Charloss's insane bid.

Each member's face had turned a pale white as the realization of what just happened finally hit them. Nami was the first to speak, her face an ashen white and sweaty. "Right off the bat… That insane amount... We don't have nearly enough money."

"There you go again wasting money…" Rosewald said to his son before he asked, "Besides, isn't your fish tank packed full of piranhas?"

Charloss only laughed at his father's question, "Well, the chase will make things more interesting, and they do say that Mermaids are the fastest creatures under the sea. If not, well, my piranhas will be fed for a while."

Poor Keimi was pounding against the walls of the tank as she tried to yell to her friends but the sound proof nature of her tank prevented anyone from hearing her.

As the Manager of the Auction House began to ask if there were any other bids the Saiken Pirates were furiously whispering amongst themselves. Each was trying to figure a way to save their friend without putting her life in danger. Unfortunately it seemed as if fate wasn't on their side today.

"Well then if there are no other bids then the super special item, Mermaid Keimi, shall go to the highest bidder Saint Char-"

**BOOOOM!**

Everyone ducked down as a large explosion blasted apart the doors to the Human Auction House. A few nobles were struck by flying debris but besides that everyone seemed to be alright. Then from the smoke that was left from the explosion a pair of voices were heard.

"What the hell was that Luffy?! You could've killed us with that move!" A rough-sounding voice demanded.

"Come now Zorro, you know very well that an explosion that small would've never killed us." A much calmer and laid back voice responded to the first.

After a little while, the smoke cleared away enough for the figure to be seen. The first figure was tall and muscular and, oddly enough, had short green hair. He wore a striped shirt that was opened up, showing off his scarred chest, and a pair of swordsman pants. The thing that drew everyone's attention was the three swords tied to his waist, a clear sign of the man's identity.

This man was "Pirate Hunter" Zoro, another member of the Supernovas and the first mate of the Saiken Pirates.

Eventually the smoke cleared enough for the other figure to be seen. The young man before the assembled nobles was fairly tall and thin, especially when compared to the more obese nobles in the audience. The man had black eyes and black hair that reached to his shoulders. His hair was parted to the side so that a large portion of his bangs covered the left side of his face. Sitting on top of his ebony hair was an old straw hat that had a red strip encircling around its brim.

He was wearing a long, light blue kimono that was adorned with a small emblem of three bubbles on the back and was tied close with an orange sash. The kimono hung loose from the man's shoulders, exposing his chest. He wore a pair of black pants underneath his kimono and had a lone bamboo gourd attached to the waist line. Finally, loosely clutched in his right hand was an oddly bent pipe of some kind.

For anyone who wasn't totally ignorant of current affairs of the world they would recognize this man as the most wanted of the Supernova's and the Captain of the Saiken Pirates, "Acid Bloom" Luffy.

Luffy then brought the pipe up to his mouth and idly blew out a few bubbles as his eyes scanned the crowed for a few moments. When Luffy's eyes landed on Keimi his mouth split into a grin as he started walking towards her with a brisk pace.

"Ahh Keimi, it's good to see that you are unharmed. Hold on for just a second and then we can leave this place."

All of the nobles in the room were shocked by the Pirate Captain's audacity; did he really expect to just waltz in here and then walk out with a slave of the Tenryūbito? The audacity of that Pirate was beyond anything that they had ever seen before.

As Luffy walked past the other members of his crew, Hachi leaped from his seat and grabbed Luffy around the waist as he tried to prevent him from making a terrible mistake. Luffy on the other hand barely seemed to notice Hachi as he kept on walking at the same pace, though now he was dragging the Octopus Fishman behind him.

"Wait a moment Luffy! Just stop for a moment." Hachi said as he tried to get Luffy to stop.

Luffy spared Hachi a glance before he returned his attention to Keimi. "Why though Hachi? Keimi is right there; all we need to do now is get her out of here."

"Sure she's right there but she has an explosive collar on her neck! We can't just take her with force especially not when the Tenryūbito are involved!"

Unfortunately, in his effort to slow the determined Pirate Captain down, Hachi slipped his extra arms out of his coat and used them to grab Luffy. While it did nothing to slow down Luffy, the mere sight of his extra appendages freaked out the surrounding nobles.

"Ahhhh! It's a Fishman!"

Hachi finally noticed that his extra arms were showing and, in his shock, he let go of Luffy who continued walking towards Keimi. The people who were around Hachi suddenly tried to get as far as away from him as they could, it was if he was a leper.

"It's a Fishman!"

"It's so disgusting! Look at it! It has six arms."

While the nobles were focused on Hachi, the manager of the Human Auction House was focused on the approaching Luffy. While he normally would've thought that no one would've been crazy enough to attack this establishment since it belonged to a Shichibukai, he's heard about the reports on "Acid Bloom" Luffy's actions.

Attacking the Marine base of Enies Lobby proved how crazy Acid Bloom was and then destroying said base with his crew proved that he had enough strength to back all of that craziness up.

"Stop him! Stop that Pirate!" The manager shouted to his men who started to run towards the advancing pirate.

Luffy brought the crooked pipe up to his mouth as the Human Auction House's guards ran towards him. He then slowly exhaled through the pipe which caused about a small series of bubbles to blow out of the end and towards the guards.

"Awa Kangoku (Bubble Prison)." Luffy said after lowering his bubble-blower.

The floating bubbles then expanded in size, becoming much larger than even a fully grown man, and then engulfed the charging guards. The guards tried to break through their soapy prison by pounding on the sides of the bubbles but they did not pop.

While Luffy was dealing with the guards, the situation for Hachi was growing steadily worse. The nobles had finally gotten over their fear and begun throwing hateful words and hurling objects at Hachi.

"Come on," Nami said as she got up from her seat and began to move towards Hachi. "Robin was right: Fishmen are discriminated against here. We need to get Hachi out of here before this situation gets worse."

The other members of the Saiken Pirates nodded or responded in the affirmative before they got up as well. They then rushed off towards Hachi, dimly aware of the two Pirate Captains looking at them, and what was now going on, with amusement.

As this was happening, Luffy walked past the imprisoned guards and was now almost at the stage where Keimi was with no obstacle in sight. "Don't worry Keimi. Everything will be alright now."

**BANG!**

The sound of a gunshot stopped Luffy in his tracks as he saw Keimi's face morph from happiness to horror. Turning his around slowly Luffy saw something that made his blood boil. There, lying on the ground with his blood spilling onto the floor was Hachi. Standing over the downed octopus Fishman was the fat form of Charloss with a smoking gun in his hand.

"HA HA HA HA HA." Charloss laughed as he started to Dance around Hachi's bleeding body. "I got the Fish Man! I sure sorted him out."

"HACHI!" Nami screamed in horror at the sight of her injured friend. Keimi was no better than Nami as she pounded against the walls of the tank, the salt water hiding her tears.

"Ahhh thank goodness that Saint Charloss shot that beast." The nobles around Luffy began to snicker and sneer to each other. "If it got any closer we may have got something from it."

Luffy's pupils narrowed into slits, a clear indication of the rage that was hidden within his body. Luffy then began to walk up to his downed friend and the dancing noble.

"Father, look at me!" Charloss said as he continued to dance around Hachi. "I caught me a Fishman for free! Now that's a value! A Fishman slave for nothing, now that's a deal!"

Luffy's black eyes slowly changed to an acid green color as a haze of malice seemed to exude from him. As Luffy began to walk past Hachi, the injured Fishman reached up and weakly grasped the end of his kimono.

"Wait Luffy," Hachi began as Luffy turned his eyes down towards his friend. "You… can't. This was all my fault…" Hachi then paused as a set of coughs stained his mouth red. "You promised me… that even if someone was shot right before your eyes… You mustn't go against the Tenryūbito."

The rest of Luffy's crew stood and silence and listened to Hachi's words. Though their anger was threatening to boil over they kept it in check out of respect for Hachi. Luffy himself had turned away from the annoying noble and knelt down next to Hachi and placed his hand on the bullet wound to try and stem the bleeding.

"I was a Pirate in the first place…I've done so many terrible things… this is my just deserts." Here his voice began to crack a bit. "I'm so sorry… I never meant for things to get this bad. I just wanted to make things up to Nami, if even only for a little bit."

Nami was on the verge of tears at Hachi's admission of guilt for what he had done. She had already forgiven him so he shouldn't have to carry this guilt around.

"But it's no good." Hachi continued on as his breathing got heavier. "No matter what I do… I'm always messing up somehow. I'm always just getting in everyone's way…" Hachi finished as tears poured forth from his eyes.

"YOU STUPID FISH!" Charloss apparently had enough of Hachi and Luffy's 'insolence' and raised his gun in preparation for another shot. "You keep on blathering on even though I shot you. You really are getting on my nerves."

Just as the spoiled child of a noble was about to pull the trigger of his gun for another shot, Luffy whispered something softly before blowing into his pipe.

"Awa Dōmu (Bubble Dome)."

The lone bubble that came from Luffy's pipe quickly expanded in size as it engulfed both Luffy Hachi. The bubble then gained a shiny sheen just as the bullet left the muzzle of Charloss's gun. The nobles fully expected the bullet to pierce the bubble barrier that "Acid Bloom" Luffy had erected so it was a shock to them all when the bullets bounced off the bubble, hitting a few members of the crowd.

The angry Tenryūbito didn't seem to notice, or more likely didn't care, that he was basically shooting the crowd as he kept unloading his gun at the one person who dared defy him.

"And you! Hare dare an insignificant pirate like you stand up to someone like me?! I am a Tenryūbito and I command you to die like the trash you and damn crew are!" Charloss shouted. His face reddened when he thought that Luffy wasn't listening to his commands. "Once I'm done with you I'll have the rest of your pathetic crew executed!"

All of the assembled members of the Saiken Pirates winced at the near audible snap that came with the breaking of their captain's self-control. They watched as he stood up from his kneeling position and walked to towards Charloss, dispelling his barrier as Charloss had no more ammo.

Luffy then dipped his bubble pipe in his bamboo gourd and brought it back to his mouth. "Inku Awa (Ink Bubble)."

Charloss didn't have the time to blink as he was surrounded by an inky black bubble that blocked everyone from seeing inside of it. Luffy then raised his free hand so that it hung in front of his chest. His index and middle finger remained straight but his ring and pinky finger curled to form an "O" with his thumb.

"Katsu."

With that, the bubble suddenly popped, allowing the ink-black liquid inside of it to slosh to the floor. What surprised everyone was the fact that Saint Charloss was nowhere to be seen, though his half-melted gun was. But even as people stared at the spot where Charloss once stood, the half melted gun began to dissolve in the liquid, bringing everyone to come to one conclusion: "Acid Bloom" Luffy had just killed a Tenryūbito.

XXXXXXXXXXX

(-Human Emporium-)

The Human Emporium, located within Grove 2 of the Saboady Archipelago, was not the newest or the most well-known of its kind but it did generate a few well known contacts with those of the higher society. It was with those connections that the manager of the emporium, a small fat man who went by the name of Gato, always thought that he would have protection from even the most fool hardy of pirates.

It turns out that this was not the case.

Gato was currently hog-tied and beaten bloody, staring up weakly at the two large men who did this to him. The day had started out so well to; he had received a large order of slaves from one of his better clients that would have sent him straight into prosperity for the next few months. Besides those odd pirates who were looking for a mermaid of all things, it seemed as if his day was looking up.

And then they had come.

After those other pirates had left the Human Emporium, a pair of tall cloaked figures had come from seemingly out of nowhere. They had then proceeded to lay down a brutal beating on him and all of his employees. Then, after they had been beaten, the two men tied them all up like they were the slaves!

While both figures were wearing cloaks that obscured their features but Gato was able to discern a few things about his mysterious attackers. Both were tall, one more so than the other, and they had some odd hair. The taller of the two had long pale-pink hair that extended from the shadows of his hood and he carried a ringed staff. The other figure, a man if his voice was any indication, had two… horns that seemed to keep his hood up but it still somehow managed to keep his face hidden.

When he and his employees were fully immobilized, the two figures went to work.

The one with the horns went behind the Human Emporium's counter and started to rummage around through the drawers until he picked up the key ring for the entire place. The man with the pink hair started to bring in large barrels of some kind from the back area of the Human Emporium and placed them in a pile in the center of the room. As the large pink-haired figure continued to bring barrels in, the horned one went over to the display cases and started to free all of the stock of slaves.

"Thank you so much!" One of the newly freed slaves said with tears in his eyes. "What are your names? So we can thank you?"

The man with the staff then struck a pose as he put down the last of the barrels, making a grand total of ten barrels stacked up in the middle of his store. Then, with his voice going from deep to high falsetto, the man began to recite a haiku of all things. "Yoyo! No need to thank us, Our great captain Luffy told, Us to give you your lives back."

Despite the oddness of the man, the now freed slaves couldn't be any happier since they had just been given their freedom back. The other figure then pointed towards the door of the establishment.

"You all might want to get out of here soon since this place is coming down."

The freed slaves didn't need to be told twice in as they all ran towards the door and to their freedom. Gato could only watch as the future of his business run right out of the door, ruining both him and his business financially.

"Hmm, that was an interesting experience. Normally we don't leave any witnesses behind after a mission."

The other one twirled the staff in his hands for a second before he delivered a quick jab to one of the barrels, leaving behind a perfect circle that began to leak a black powder. Gato then paled and struggled against his bonds even more now that he realized that there were ten barrels of gun powder in his store.

"Yoyo! I know what you mean my friend, but I must say that it is a refreshing change." The man with the staff said.

Both figures then walked to one of the back walls of the building. Once there the horned one put his hand on the wall and pushed on it. Then to Gato's supreme surprise the wall…swung open as though it was a door on a hinge. The man then started to rummage through his cloak as though he was looking for something. "Dang, now where are those matches at?"

"Oh no!" The one with the staff yelled out in exaggerated sadness. "Without those matches we cannot complete our mission. The shame is too much for me to bear; I must take my life to preserve my honor!" The man then grabbed his staff with both hands and attempted to stab himself with it.

"Tekkai (Iron Mass)." The man shouted out as the staff was about to impale him. The tip of the staff then bounced off the man's stomach as though it was made of iron. Then man then dropped to his knees at the result of his failed suicide attempt. "Mama in heaven, did you save my life again?"

"Your mother's not dead you idiot." The horned man said as his hand hovered over a hidden pocket in his cloak. "Ohh, here they are." He turned his head towards his fallen companion with the match book in hand.

"You go on ahead and I'll be right behind you." The man said as he pulled a match from the match book.

As his companion left through the newly created door, the man lit the match and then used it to set the match book on fire. The horned man then casually tossed the flaming pack of matches over his shoulder as he made his way through the wall-door.

Gato watched the match book fly through the air towards the barrels of gun powder at a snail's pace. Gato then shut his eyes tight just as the matches reached the falling trail of gunpowder and lit it on fire. There was a second of hesitation and then...

**BOOOOOOOM! **

XXXXXXXXXXXX

(-Human Auction House-)

The silence in the Human Auction House was almost to deafening for those in the room. The nobles in the stands were shocked into silence, a few of them actually died on the spot from heart failure. It was inconceivable to them; a pirate had just struck down a Tenryūbito as though he was swatting a pesky fly.

Did this man know no fear for what he had just done?

Even the people who weren't nobles, Hachi, Keimi, and Pappug were looking at Luffy as though they couldn't comprehend what he had just done. The captains of the Heart Pirates and the Kid Pirates on the other hand were looking at their fellow captain with a faint smile, as though they found his actions to be amusing.

"Sorry guys…" Luffy said as his anger was replaced with a steely determination. "I hear that if you kill one of these guys… Then a Marine Admiral will come with a bunch of battleships."

"Luffy, why did you have to go and melt that guy?" Zoro sighed in mock disappointment as he drew one of his swords from it's sheathe. "I really wanted to cut him up."

Nami then made her way to Hachi and started to apply some basic treatment to his wounds. "Hang in there Hachi; we're going to get you patched up soon."

"You guys…" Hachi said as he stared at Nami's concerned face.

"Charlos-nisama!" The female Tenryūbito, Shalulia, yelled in horror when the events finally hit her. The sound of her voice also snapped the rest of the audience out of their daze. Instantly the assembled nobles leaped from their seats and scrambled away from the Saiken Pirates as though they had a disease.

"That man just killed a Tenryūbito!'

"Doesn't he know what he's just done? We'll be lucky if they don't call a buster call on us!"

Saint Rosewald was literally vibrating with anger as he leapt onto one of the stands and pulled out a pistol from his robes.

"YOU LOWBRED TRASH!" Rosewald yelled as he fired wildly at Luffy, who didn't bother to move since the old man's aim was worse than his son's. "HOW DARE YOU SHED THE BlOOD OF THIS WORLDS CREATOR'S! I'LL SEE YOU AND EVERYONE THAT YOU HOLD DEAR HANG FOR THIS!"

While Luffy knew that the raving man would never be able to hit him but he knew that a stray bullet may hit one of his nakama, so he decided to tale of this annoyance. Gathering up all of his mental fortitude, and just a bit of demonic energy, Luffy turned his attention to Saint Rosewald and sent out a wave of Haki towards the annoying Tenryūbito.

Saint Rosewald didn't know what hit him, at one moment he was shooting at the scum who murdered his son but in the next second he was blindsided by what felt like a knife straight to his brain. He couldn't breathe; he couldn't even move, all he could do was get a brief glimpse of the acidic green eyes of "Acid Bloom" Luffy as darkness over took him.

Luffy let a small smirk play across his face as he watched Saint Rosewald and the rest of the nobles in the audience passed out with foam frothing from their mouths and a bit of blood leaking from their ears. The only people who weren't affected by Luffy's blast of Haki were his fellow crewmates, the Heart Pirates, the Kid Pirates, and Keimi who was still looking at Luffy with shock and awe on her face.

"Shishishi…" Luffy chuckled to himself as he looked at the scene that he just caused. "I only meant to take that old man out. I guess I still can't do that technique just quite right; I hope that I didn't crush any of their minds by mistake. Shishishishi"

**WHAM**

"Oww! Nami that hurt!" Luffy yelled as he rubbed the goose egg that now rested on his head. Nami was right behind her captain with her Clima-Tact unfolded and smoking slightly from the hit to Luffy's thick skull.

"It was supposed to hurt you baka! While I can appreciate you taking out that stupid noble but did you have to knock out the entire audience? Now what are we going to do? The entire marine armada will be after us." Nami ranted as she angrily waved around her staff.

Luffy spent a few more seconds nursing the lump on his head before he returned to a standing position. "Well Nami... I planned for just such an emergency; just in case we needed a quick escape."

He then reached into the folds of his kimono and pulled out something in his enclosed fist. Holding his fist in front of his face Luffy slowly opened his fist to reveal a small black Den-Den Mushi.

"This is Slug." Luffy spoke with a clear and calm voice as the Den-Den Mushi's eyes snapped open. "The situation has changed, is everyone in position?"

The Den-Den Mushi was silent for a moment before a low and familiar voice spoke out from it. "This is Leopard, Slug. Everyone is in position." There was a brief pause. "Bull and Lion have already taken care of the first slave house and we are prepared to take care of the others."

"Good work…" Luffy began as he lowered the Den-Den Mushi. "Initiate Operation 'Smokescreen'."

"Right away, Slug." With that the Black Den-Den Mushi closed its eyes and went to sleep. Luffy then slipped the sleeping Mushi back into his kimono as he went down towards the stage to finally free Keimi.

His crewmates followed their leader down to the stage and gave him a few odd looks. They were used to their captain's bipolar personality. It did frighten them at first but after spending time with the odd pirate captain they had actually come to accept it. Normally Luffy was a calm individual who often enjoyed goofy around with his nakama and had a penchant for bothering Sanji for extra food. His other personality though was the complete opposite of Luffy's normal attitude. If he deems someone a threat to him or his nakama then the normally warm Luffy was replaced with a cold blooded monster.

Luffy's second personality was as cold as the ninth level of hell and as equally as ruthless. He wouldn't hesitate to put down anyone who threatened his nakama, as he had just demonstrated with the Tenryūbito and the hundreds of nobles in the Human Auction House.

That was not the reason why they were staring at their captain though.

"Luffy-bro…" Franky began as he broke the lid off Keimi's container. "Are you sure that it's a good idea to trust those people?"

Luffy looked honestly confused at Franky's question as he fished the keys out from the Manager's pocket. He would need them to detach the collar around Keimi's neck without harming her. "Why wouldn't I trust them? They are a part of the crew after all."

"Don't you remember what they did to us?" Sanji said with a hint of a glare. "What they tried to do to Robin-swan?"

Luffy seemed totally unaware of the agitation in his crew as he unlocked the collar around Keimi's neck, much to her delight. "They were under orders from their leaders and besides… By the time that we found them they were almost as wanted as we are."

** BOOM-BOOM-BOOM**

A series of explosions outside of the auction house caused Luffy to smile a bit as he knew who set them off.

"And there they are now."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

(-Sabaody Archipelago-Davey Jone's Bar-)

Currently in the seediest bar of the most lawless zone in Sabaody Archipelago was the Goku gang, who were celebrating their recent success. For years theses so called "bandits" had been mocked and ridiculed by the others in the zone for being the weakest gang out there but today they were the ones who were doing the mocking. For not an hour ago they had captured a mermaid and sold her off to the Human Auction House for a fortune. And to top it all off, they had kidnapped her straight from under the noses of the Saiken pirates.

"Hey barkeep!" The leader of the Goku gang yelled over the clamor of his fellow bandits. "Me and my men here need another round of drinks and make it pronto!"

The good feelings amongst the gang seemed never ending as they ate and drank as much as they could. Until…

** BOOM-BOOM-BOOM**

A series of loud explosion had everyone covering their ears as the area outside the bar became enshrouded with flames. Instantly everyone took out a weapon of some sort and got ready for what ever happened next.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Is it the Marines?"

"Pirates?"

Before any further speculations could be made, a single cloaked through the burning doors and into the bar. He looked around at all of the unfriendly and hostile faces, taking in their weapons but remaining unconcerned.

"Which of you lowlifes belong to the Goku Gang? If you answer quickly then I'll grant you a semi-quick death."

A large bandit that was bulging with muscles and covered in scars got up from his table and walked up to the stranger, all the while scowling. When he reached the mysterious man, the bandit stared at the stranger straight into his hidden eyes.

"Listen here, shorty! Any of us here men could take you down without so much as lifting a finger." The bandit sneered, his voice practically oozing arrogance; and bad grammar. "So why don't you just get out of here before you get hurt?"

After delivering his threat, the bandit backed off before he started laughing at the cloaked figure. The rest of the bar seemed to think this was funny as well, for they started to laugh alongside the bandit.

The cloaked man looked up at the bandit for a couple of seconds before he spoke in a dead tone, "So, I guess that you want to die first, hm? Fine then, Shigan (Finger Gun)."

With that, the cloaked figure's form blurred for a moment as he plunged his extended finger into the bandit's chest. The speed at which the technique had been delivered left the bandit no time to react. He could only gasp and look down at the cloaked figure's finger as it was slowly pulled out of his chest, "H-How...?"

And with that the bandit fell down dead with a punctured heart. As the rest of people in the bar stared at the dead bandit in shock, a pigeon of all things flew into the bar and landed on the on the stranger's shoulder.

"Let's try that again, where's the Goku Gang?"

Dozens of fingers pointed towards the sweating Goku Gang in the corner before they all hightailed it out of there. Once the stampede of bar patrons ended the only people who remained in the bar were the Goku gang and the man himself.

"What do you want from us?" The leader of the Goku gang said while trying, and failing, to keep the fear out of his voice.

The stranger then reached up and removed his hood, revealing his face to the gang. The man had strong features with arched eyebrows and a close-shaved goatee. He had shoulder length wavy black hair that was done up in a ponytail. His eyes were the same as a predator's who had cornered its prey.

"Captain Luffy of the Saiken Pirates sends his regards…"

The man then underwent a transformation that frightened the Goku Gang to no end. Where there was once a man there was now a monster that stood at least ten feet tall. It looked like a hybrid between a large cat of some sort and a human and it was packed with muscles.

"And his goodbyes…"

With that Rob Lucci, former member of the CP9 and new member of the Saiken Pirates, charged forward towards the frightened Goku Gang. They would never be heard from again after that day.

XXXXXXXXXX

(-Outside of the Human Auction House-)

The scene outside of the Human Auction House was pure pandemonium; there was no other way to describe it. Thirty minutes ago they had recovered a frantic call from a noble who was in the Human Auction House that told of a heinous crime had been committed.

"Acid Bloom" Monkey D. Luffy, the most wanted member of the Eleven Supernovas, had murdered a Tenryūbito.

Before they could have gained any more information on what had happened, the line was abruptly cut off. Instantly, no less than ten platoons of Marines were dispatched to the Human Auction House in order to arrest the villainous Pirate. They set up a perimeter around the Human Auction House and prepared to capture Monkey D. Luffy.

"'Acid Bloom' Luffy, come out with your hands up! If you release the remaining Tenryūbito and the other nobles then we can promise you a quick execution." A Marine Captain said over a speaker Den-Den Mushi.

Instead of "Acid Bloom" Luffy coming out by himself like they had hoped for, he had strolled out of the building with Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law. Instantly the disposition of the Marines went from nervous to red alert at the sight of the three most wanted of the Supernovas.

"Fire men, FIRE!" The Marine Captain yelled to his troops.

The Marines fired the cannons that they set up earlier at the three captains, fully expecting them to be blown away by the cannon balls. What they didn't expect though was the fact that the three Pirate captains were more than prepared for them.

Each used their powers to deflect the cannon ball; Law using a "Room" to halt the cannon balls, Kid used his powers to force them to the ground, and Luffy used his Awa Dōmu to block the ones that were coming at him.

After the smoke had cleared, the three Supernovas had been left unscratched and the marines all began shaking in fear at the smirks on the three Pirate Captain's faces.

_'Oh crap...'_ All of the marines thought as the Pirate captain's leapt at the marines.

Law and Kidd each began to use their individual Devil Fruit abilities to take care of whole groups of marines Luffy began to fill the area with bubbles. The Marine's first instinct was to ignore the seemingly harmless and focus on the larger threat of the other Pirates but then the Marine Captain remembered the report on Luffy's abilities.

"YOU FOOLS! GET AWAY FROM THOSE BUBBLES!" The Captain screamed out to his men.

But it was too late for the marines as Luffy made the same hand sign that he used to kill the Tenryūbito. "Baburu Bakuhatsu Jutsu (Bubble Explosion Technique)!"

The bubbles that hung throughout the platoons of Marines started to glow with a bright yellow light before each of them exploded with a powerful force. Scores of Marines were sent flying into the air from the force of the blast, and those that were closer to the bubbles when they exploded were not as lucky as their compatriots.

A lone Marine Grunt saw the carnage around him and started to shake in anger. All around him his comrades, friends who he had fought with for years, were being systematically destroyed by these three monsters. With a scream of rage, the grunt raised his rifle and prepared to shoot "Acid Bloom" Luffy in the heart.

"Die you monster!" The Grunt yelled as he was about to pull the trigger of the rifle.

"Hitsuji Gumo Tidal Wave (Sheep Cloud Tidal Wave)"

Before the Marine could pull the trigger, a massive tidal wave of golden bubbles engulfed him along with all of the Marines around him. As the wave continued on its path, the Marines that had been caught in the attack had undergone a very obvious transformation. All of the men now resembled large shiny dolls with rounded limbs.

Once the wave had passed, the Marines all fell over each other as they tried to stand up and grip their weapons but found themselves too weak to do so.

Luffy looked at the transformed Marines for a moment before a small grin appeared on his face. After all, there was only one other person that he knew of that used bubbles in her attacks and he couldn't be any happier to see her.

"Kalifa-chan, you can come out now. I know that your there." Luffy said as he released another wave of exploding bubbles into a nearby group of Marines.

A few feet away from Luffy a woman materialized as though she had been created from nothing but air. The woman was very slim with blue eyes and glasses that slid slightly from her face. She had blonde hair that was about shoulder length that hung freely around her face. She has small studded earrings and wore a long-sleeved short black dress over a fishnet shirt and stockings along with black gloves and high-heels.

The woman then adjusted her square framed glasses as she spoke in a clear and clipped voice. "Captain, the Blueno and Kumadori have reported in that they are taking care of the rest of the Slave Shops on the island while Kaku and Furkuro are taking care of the marines that are already on the island. Lucci also reported in that he's taken care of the Goku Gang like you requested."

"Shishishi, that's good." Luffy said as he swatted away a few of the Marines that got too close to him with his bubble pipe. Once the marines were knocked out, Luffy turned his attention back to Kalifa. "Say Kalifa-chan, how about after we finish up here we go on a date?"

Kalifa adjusted her glasses again so that the sun's glare obscured her eyes from view.

"That's sexual harassment." Kalifa said, even though she had a bit of a blush on her face.

Instead of being crushed by the flat out rejection from Kalifa, Luffy actually began to laugh. "Shishishi, one of these days you're going to have to accept one of my date requests Kalifa-chan."

"Hey Acid Bloom if your done making kissing faces with your girlfriend then pay attention to your surroundings."

Luffy turned his attention away from Kalifa and saw that Eustass and Law had finished up their fights and were allowing their crewmembers to take care of any marine that came close to them.

"Good," Eustass began as his first mate, Killer, blocked a sword strike from a marine. "Each of us may have taken a different path to get to this point but for whatever reason, fate, destiny, whatever you call it, but today of all days all eleven of the Supernova's converged on this island with the same dream."

As Eustass continued his speech as the marines around them continued to be slaughtered by Kid's crew. "Today though we shall go our separate ways and go into a land where people like use live and prosper. Let's all meet there again...in the 'New World'"

With that Eustass turned away from Luffy and made his way past the any of the straggling marines with the rest of his crew. Law looked around at the marines for a second before he signaled his own crew to follow him.

"As much as I loathe agreeing with that bastard…" Law said as he started to leave the area. "It is time that I get going to, hopefully we'll see each other again Acid Bloom."

Luffy seemed to stare off in the direction that his two rival captains walked off to before he started to mutter to himself, "The New World huh?"

A grin then formed on his face at the thought of that dangerous place.

"That sounds like fun."

**BOOM**

A large yellow explosion erupted from the spot where Kalifa and Luffy were standing, completely obliterating a large chunk of earth. Thankfully Luffy and Kailfa got out of the explosion's range with a combination of Soru and natural speed and were now standing near the entrance of Human Auction House, trying to find out where the attack had come from. They did not have to wait long for the answer.

From the shadows of the mangrove trees three large shadows leapt from their hiding places and landed amongst the downed marines. Luffy's eyes actually widened in surprise at the sight of three figures that were now standing in the clearing.

"Kuma?" Luffy said with no small amount of confusion and surprise.

Each of the newly revealed figures were unnaturally tall, nearing seven meters in height. Their faces were very rectangular and they all had shaggy black hair. Their eyes were covered by clear-mirrored lenses that hid them from view. All three men wore a hat that had a pair of rounded ears that looked similar to a bear's ears. These large bear like men looked exactly like the Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma.

By the time that Luffy's surprise had worn away, the rest of his crew had finally exited the Human Auction House.

"UGGGHHH!" Ussop yelled out in fear as he hid behind Zorro, "I-its KUMA!"

"But why are there three of him." Franky wondered as he adjusted his glasses, just to make sure that he was really seeing what was in front of him.

The three Kumas eyes light up behind their mirror lensed screens as they stared at Luffy and his crew.

"IDENTIFYING…" The lead Kuma said in a complete monotone voice. "IDENTIFICATIONS CONFIRMED. S-RANKED PIRATE, 'ACID BLOOM' LUFFY, BOUNTY AMOUNT 400,000,000. THREAT LEVEL…HIGH."

The Kuma to the left then began to speak. "FORMER CP9 MEMBER KALIFA, BOUNTY AMOUNT 500,000. THREAT LEVEL…MEDIUM.

The last Kuma then began to speak after the last one was finished. "'PIRATE HUNTER' ZORO, BOUNTY AMOUNT 120,000,000. THREAT LEVEL…MEDIUM.

Then all three began to speak in unison. "RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION…TERMINATION."

With that the three Kumas launched themselves towards the assembled Saiken pirates. The crew members all fell into their respective fighting stances, ready to fight. Before they even had a chance to fight though, three large bubbles, each even larger then Kuma appeared in front of the charging Kumas.

The three large Shichibukai seemed to not notice, or simply disregarded, the presence of the bubbles and continued their charge. This proved to be a mistake though as the three bubbles started to glow as the Kumas drew closer to them.

**BOOM!**

Once the three Kumas hit the bubbles a loud and powerful explosion engulfed them in a tower flames. The Saiken Pirates looked at the flames in shock before they switched their attention to their captain. Luffy had a serious expression on his face as his he stared into the flames even as they began to die down.

"Luffy you did it!" Ussop cheered as emerged from behind Zorro. "You just blew them away.

Luffy's expression was not a joyful one as he continued to stare into the black smoke that was left behind from his attack. Luffy then raised his bubble pipe up again as he began to speak.

"Somehow I think that it's not going to be as easy as that."

Just as Ussop was going to speak up again he caught sight of something that was in the flames that froze the breath in his lungs. Six pairs of golden lights shined through the smoke as three large silhouettes formed. Then, appearing from within the black smoke, the three Kumas stepped out looking radically different.

"They… they aren't human…" Nami said with a breathless gasp as she stared upon the new appearance of the three Kumas.

Though the blast had not completely destroyed them, the three Kumas did not come out of the explosion undamaged. The force and the flames of the explosion had seared away parts of Kumas' skin revealing what lay beneath it. When the Saiken Pirates had first seen the Shichibukai on Thriller Park they had discovered that he was a cyborg, similar to Franky but on a much grander scale and his skin had machinery grafted straight on his body.

Theses Kumas were different though.

The burnt skin revealed a metal skeleton and hundreds of intertwining cables of varying sizes, which flexed with each moment the Kumas made. The most horrifying feature of the Kumas, was that the lead Kuma had half of his face burnt off, revealing a grinning metal skull and a single glowing yellow eye.

These weren't cyborgs; they were robots.

Kalifa started to sweat at the sight of the insides of the Kuma, the very sight having brought forth a certain memory when CP9 still worked for the World Government. She had thought that these things were still only in the blueprint phase. To see that they had actually started being manufactured was not a good thing.

"This is bad... I know what those things are..." Kalifa said in a whisper, though everyone heard her. "Pacifistas..."

"Pacifistas?" Franky asked the blonde-haired woman. Though he may not trust her, being someone who tried to kill him and his friends after all, the former CP9 agent seemed to know what these things were. He wouldn't discount her knowledge in this situation, though he would probably question her about the robots once this was over.

"They are an experimental weapon created by Doctor Vegapunk. Based off his work with converting Bartholomew Kuma into a cyborg, the Pacifista weapon is the World Government's newest weapon against Pirates of all kinds. When I was still a member of the World Government it was still in the prototype phase but it looks like they managed to complete it."

Before Kalifa could continue talking, the Pacifistas charged towards the Saiken Pirates. Luffy, being the closest leapt forward to meet the Pacifistas head on, blowing out another group of exploding bubbles towards them. Two Pacifistas jumped into the air to avoid the bubbles while the third one swerved to the right to avoid the attack. Once the bubbles passed harmlessly by it, the third Pacifista turned back to the rest of Luffy's crew and charged.

Luffy was surprised by this action and was about to attack when he noticed that it suddenly had become darker than it was a minute ago. Looking up into the sky, Luffy saw two Pacifistas were now coming down straight at him with their hands in a palm thrust position. He leapt to the side with a quick use of Soru just as the Pacifistas shattered the ground where he had been standing on with their palms.

The instant that his Soru had ended Luffy was already creating another swarm of bubbles which he sent at the two Pacifistas.

"Baburu Bakuhatsu Jutsu (Bubble Explosion Technique)!"

Each bubble hit the robots and exploded with the force of a large grenade but did little to no damage to them. Once the attack had ended, the Pacifistas turned their heads to Luffy and opened their mouths as a yellow glow began to build from within their gullet. Twin beams of destruction launched from their mouths and headed straight towards Luffy.

While he could barely see the attacks that were heading towards him, Luffy's instincts were screaming at him to move. So with a quick Soru Luffy dodged the twin beams so that they sailed into the mangrove forest. At first it appeared to Luffy that the beams were nothing but harmless light, but then they impacted against one of the giant mangrove trees.

In an instant, one half of the tree was vaporized in an explosion of yellow light. The tree groaned and yawned for a couple of seconds and, when it could no longer support its own weight, toppled over and caused a mighty boom.

Luffy looked at the destruction that the attack had caused before a grim look appeared on his face. He then turned his attention back to the Pacifista who were charging up another attack.

_'This may be more difficult than I thought it would be. Especially with those lasers.'_

As Luffy finished his thoughts the Pacifistas sent out another volley of lasers at him. With a quick application of Soru, Luffy ducked underneath the lasers and put his bubble blower to his mouth. Then, when he was only feet away from the two robots, he blew as hard as he could and launched an enormous bubble at them.

Luckily for him, the Pacifistas ignored the bubble, analyzing it and deeming it no threat, and made to hit Luffy with boulder-shattering palm thrusts. Luffy vaulted into the air over the two robots and surrounded himself in a large bubble so that he floated in the air. Luffy then watched as the Pacifistas palms impacted against the earth, leaving miniature craters behind. When the Pacifista noticed that they had missed Luffy they looked up towards the sky, where Luffy was still floating, and began to charge up another laser shot; all the while ignoring the giant bubble that was floating behind them. Luffy looked down at the Pacifistas then activated his latest technique with his familiar hand seal.

"Giganto Baburu Bakuhatsu Jutsu (Giant Bubble Explosion Technique)!"

**BOOOOMM! **

The force of the explosion so powerful that it actually sent the two Pacifistas flying through the air. As the Pacifista landed, one tearing through the base of the fallen mangrove tree and the other digging up a trench as it skidded to a stop. Luffy knew he had to act. He quickly popped the bubble he was in and created another bubble as he fell. This time, though, the bubble was pale white and the size of his head.

"Nori Baburu Jutsu (Glue Bubble Technique)!"

The white bubble shot off towards the Pacifista that hit the mangrove with the speed of a rocket. The bubble impacted against the chest of the Pacifista and sprayed a white liquid all over the downed robot. The Pacifista tried to get up but found itself unable to do so since it could not move a single servo. What had happened was that the white liquid that the Pacifista was covered in was a super-adhesive quick setting glue.

Luffy couldn't help but smile a bit as he landed at the sight of the stuck Pacifista before he turned his attention to the other one. The other Pacifista had started to dig itself out of the trench that it had created. Knowing that if he let this opportunity go then the fight might go on longer and his nakama may be hurt by the third Pacifista, so with determination in his eyes Luffy rushed towards the second Pacifista.

Just as the Pacifista fully dug itself out of the trench Luffy appeared in front of it with a plan in mind. If his explosive attacks didn't work on these things then let's see how they would handle a bit of corrosive acid.

Dipping his pipe into the bamboo gourd that was hooked to his belt, Luffy brought the pipe to his lips and blew into it, "Inku Awa (Ink Bubble)."

Seconds later, a bubble emerged from the tip of Luffy's pipe before it flew towards the Pacifista. As it traveled, the bubble grew so, by the time it captured the Pacifista, it had grown to an adequate enough size to contain it. The bubble then began to fill with an inky-black liquid until the Pacifista could no longer be seen. Luffy, thinking that his opponent had been defeated, turned to finish off the other Pacifista.

This proved to be a fatal mistake.

From the center of the bubble, a large robotic hand burst out with a splash of black liquid, hanging behind Luffy's back. Almost in slow motion, Luffy turned his head around in time to see his Inku Awa burst. While his technique hadn't completely melted the Pacifista, it did strip away the fake skin and clothes, leaving only the metal frame and mechanized insides behind. The Pacifista's eyes then lit up as a bright yellow glow appeared in its palm.

'Oh crap!' Luffy thought as he frantically channeled his demonic energy to his back so he could lessen the damage of the upcoming attack. This, in turn, caused a red shroud to cover his body seconds before they attack hit.

**BOOM**!

The force of the attack sent Luffy hurtling through the air. His hastily-thrown on cloak of demonic energy had saved him from being gutted by the laser. It was, however, not enough to spare him from the resulting explosion as the laser met with his cloak. The explosion had managed to get through his cloak and burn the back off of his kimono, along with leaving him a number of fresh lacerations and burns on his back.

'_Crap! I was careless…'_Luffy thought as he flew straight into a root of a mangrove tree. _'I need to be more careful.'_

Before Luffy could get up, he sensed something above him and looked up. Falling down towards him was the Pacifista he had hit with his glue bubble. Apparently, it had ripped itself free and was coming in for the kill. The situation was only made worse as he heard the low whine of the other Pacifista charging up another laser beam.

"Oh crap…"

**BOOOOMMMM!**

XXXXXXXXXXX

(-With the Rest of the Saiken Crew-)

Like their Captain, the remainder of the Saiken Pirates weren't fairing too well against the Pacifista. It mattered little that it was only one of them, as opposed to the two their Captain was fighting, since it seemed that it would only take one Pacifista to beat the lot of them. When they first saw the lone Pacifista charge towards their first thought was taking out this one and then helping Luffy out with the other two.

That thought was dispelled with a single attack from the Pacifista.

As the living weapon drew closer to the pirates it opened its mouth and fired the same kind of mouth laser that Kuma had used on them in Thriller Park. So with barley a second to spare, all of the members of the Saiken Pirates dived to the sides as the yellow beam sailed past their heads and into the Human Auction House, which was now empty of any nobles or former slaves.

**BOOOM **

The entire Auction went up in flames as the force of the explosion incinerated the main foundation of the building. After seeing the force of the attack the Saiken crew knew that they would be in a fight for their lives.

"Diable Mūton Shotto (Devil Mouton Shot)!"

"Sanjūroku Pondo Hō (Phoenix of the 36 Earthly Desires)" 

With a straight kick engulfed in flames and a spiraling air current, Zoro and Sanji each hit the Pacifista with one of their strongest techniques. Though the attacks didn't do much damage to the Kuma look alike it did leave it stunned long enough for Franky to prepare his next attack. Franky had both of his arms connected together in front of him as his forearms bulged with compressed air.

"Coup de Vent!" 

A large cannon ball of air shot from Fanky's arm and hit the stunned Pacifista, sending it onto its back. Before it could even attempt to right itself up, Kalifa appeared above it with a quick Geppo and threw her arms out to the side as she used her strongest technique.

"Hitsuji Gumo Waterfall (Sheep Cloud Waterfall)!"

A deluge of white bubbles materialized from Kalifa's form and fell onto the downed Pacifista, quickly engulfing it. Once she was sure that she had caught the Pacifista in her attack, Kalifa returned to her crew mates' side with a quick Soru. The crew, who were all aware of how Kalifa's powers worked, all watched the mound of bubbles for any sign of movement.

"Did it work?" Ussop asked as his knees continued to shake.

Her answer came in a form of a yellow beam that cut through the bubbles and pierced Kalifa's side before exploding in the ruins of the human auction house. Kalifa fell to her knees, with Chopper rushing to her side, and gripped the hole in her side in an attempt to stop the bleeding. From the pile of white bubbles the looming form of the Pacifista arose like an angry sea god, completely unaffected by Kalifa's attack.

"How is that possible?" Nami muttered in disbelief. "Kalifa's bubbles are supposed to wash away the strength of whoever they come into contact with; so how is he unaffected?"

"Because…" Kalifa began as she coughed up a bit of blood. "He's not a living thing he's a weapon, no different than a sword or a gun. And I can't wash away the strength of non-living things."

**BOOOM**

Just as the Saiken crew was about to launch another assault on the Pacifista, the sound of a large explosion echoed throughout the clearing. Turning to the origin of the sound the Saiken Pirates looked on in horror as their captain was engulfed in a dome of yellow light. Before the shock of the sight could settle, another laser hit the area where Luffy once stood creating another explosion.

"LUFFY!"

The crew, couldn't believe their eyes (except for Brook who didn't have eyes*Skull Joke!*) as they witnessed their captain get hit with the powerful attack. They all knew that Luffy was practically a juggernaut in battle but they had seen the force of the Pacifista's attacks and even they knew that Luffy would be seriously hurt if he got hit by one of those beams, much less the barrage that he was now enduring.

So focused were Saiken crew on the plight of their captain that they never noticed that the Pacifista they were fighting had finished charging up its next attack. Twin beams of light flew from the palms of the Pacifista and pierced the chests of Zoro and Sanji before flying off into the mangrove forest.

"Zoro!"

"Sanji!"

Before the crew could rush to their nakama's aid they saw the Pacifista charging up its mouth laser for what would no doubt be its final attack. Ussop tried to stop it by pelting the Pacifista with his Kayaku Boshi's while Robin tried to shut its mouth with her powers, but the Pacifista ignored their attempts and focused on finishing its attack. The light that came from the Pacifista's mouth rose to a blinding intensity as it prepared to annihilate the Saiken crew once and for all.

From within the smoke of that was caused by the two Pacifistas attack on Luffy, a pair of acid green eyes snapped open. The smoke was blown away as figure leapt out of the smoke and smacked away the two Pacifista nearest to it and ran towards the third. The figure appeared in front of the Pacifista and delivered a vicious uppercut to its chin, sending its head flying upwards just as it released the laser. The figure then delivered a right hook to the Pacifista's gut, sending it flying backwards.

With the threat of death gone the Saiken crew could finally see what had saved them. It was Luffy, but he looked different then he did before. Surrounding Luffy was a crimson cloak of energy with six long tails that grew from Luffy's tail bone. The cloak also had a pair of eyestalks at on its head portion that twitched occasionally as they waved in the air. Blood tripped from the wounds on his body and dripped onto the ground, where it started to bubble and smoke.

"Guys…" Luffy said as the cloak around him started to get darker. "Take Zoro, Sanji, and Kalifa-chan and get to Shakky's Bar. I'm going to go all out and I don't want you to get caught in the cross fire."

Though they wanted to argue with their captain but the steadily growing killer intent that was coming from Luffy told them that he meant business. So with regret in their eyes, the crew gathered up their injured and left their captain to deal with the Pacifista's.

Once he was sure that his crew was gong Luffy looked towards the three Pacifistas, who were now regrouped in a spear formation, and channeled his demon shroud into his pipe. Once the last of the shroud had entered the pip Luffy brought it to his lips and blew out a large crimson bubble that he then stepped into. The bubble then started to grow larger and larger, all the while obscuring Luffy from view. The Pacifistas were not idle during this time, with their main target in front of them, they charged towards the growing crimson bubble with the intent of finishing the battle.

Just as they were about to attack the large bubble something swung out from the inside of it and smacked the side of the lead Pacifista. The two other Pacifista leapt away from the perceived threat and analyzed the damage that was done to their fellow weapon. The entire right side of the lead Pacifista's body and head had been melted away, leaving only the inner wiring to spark a bit. The Pacifista's lone eye then dimmed as its entire body slumped forward, its final programing coming into effect.

**BOOM!**

The Pacifista exploded in a large gout of flame that would've killed ten normal men. With the destruction of their fellow weapon, the remaining two Pacifistas turned to their target and saw that it underwent startling transformation that would've froze in terror if they had had one.

Luffy now resembled a large white bipedal slug with stubby arms and feet. He had two long eye stalks on top of his head and hole-like openings that served as his mouth. Its entire body was covered in a slimy substance and he had six long tails waving behind him.

He Pacifistas evaluated this new threat in under a second and were already formulated a plan, but against the full might of a tailed beast no plan can work. The Pacifista's lifted their palms towards the now transformed Luffy and tried to fire off a volley of lasers at him. Luffy did not seem to be worried though, instead he took a deep breath and used his next technique.

"Fushoku-sei Gasu (Corrosive Gas)"

A massive billow of white gas spilled out from Luffy's mouth openings and raced towards the Pacifistas, melting anything that got in its way. Seeing the danger that gas presented the Pacifista on the right leapt back from the toxic cloud. Unfortunately its partner, the one that Luffy had caught with his Inku Awa, was too damaged to move so quickly and was engulfed in the corrosive gas.

The remaining Pacifista tried to see what had happened to its partner but the gas was too thick for even its optical cameras to pierce through. Then, in a sudden gust of wind, the cloud was blown away, allowing the remaining Pacifista to see the melted remains of its partner.

Before it could even contemplate its next move, the Pacifista was suddenly trapped in a vice like grip from one of Luffy's tails. In the scant few seconds of cover that his Fushoku-sei Gasu provided, Luffy had moved closer to the Kuma impersonator; well within striking distance.

The Pacifista skin and clothes began to melt and burn away by being in contact with Luffy's acidic secretion's but it would not go out without a fight. It opened its mouth and prepared to fire upon Luffy's new form. Luffy knew what the Pacifista was about to do he started to constrict it with like a python crushing its prey.

The metal and machinery within the Pacifista started to crack and groan at the sudden increase in pressure. The pressure was so great that the generator in its chest, the same generator that powered all of its attacks, began to fail.

"ERROR…ERROR." The Pacifista began as it started to spark. 'CATASTROPHIC SYSTEM MALFUNCTION…"

With one final squeeze of his tail, the Pacifista's chest crumpled like paper and exploded in a massive ball of fire. Luffy then dumped the ruined remains of the Pacifista and released a massive victory roar.

"**ROOOAAAR!"**

XXXXXXXXXXXX

(-Just outside of the Clearing-)

Sitting amongst the leaves of the Mangrove trees and old man watched Luffy's fight with great interest. The power that the young lad, though unrefined, was nothing to sneeze at. In fact with the proper training there was no doubt in the man's mind that Luffy could become the strongest being in the entire Grand Line.

"**ROOOAAAR!"**

The sound of the roar brought the old man out of his musings and saw that Luffy had destroyed the last of the Pacifistas.

"Hmm, this young lad might have just inherited your will Roger." The old man mumbled to no one as he gulped down the rest of his rum. "Though I wonder, where will the power of the Sixth Key take him?"

With that thought in "Dark King" Rayleigh got to his feet and walked away from the battle field.

* * *

><p><span>Techniques:<span>

1. Awa Kangoku (Bubble Prison): After blowing into his bubble blower, Luffy will release a series of bubbles towards an approaching group of enemies. As the bubbles fly towards the enemies, they grow to a size sufficient enough to hold them. Once the enemies have been captured, they'll find that it is almost impossible to break from the inside of the bubble.

2. Awa Dōmu (Bubble Dome): Luffy blows a single bubble from his bubble blower that quickly forms into a dome around him and any nearby allies. Its strength is enough to reflect a bullet and resist a small string of explosions. Luffy can increase the strength of it by adding more bubbles to the dome, though he has never used more than five.

3. Inku Awa (Ink Bubble): A variation of the Awa Kangoku. Once the target has been trapped in bubble, it will start to fill with a black liquid. When the liquid reaches the top of the bubble, it will pop, releasing the liquid and revealing no trace of the captured person. It is enough to kill a Human, though Pacifista have proven resilient enough to survive this technique.

4. Tekkai (Iron Mass): A technique that hardens the users' muscles to the level of iron, in order to nullify damage taken from attacks. However, with enough force, it can be broken through.

5. Shigan (Finger Gun): A close-quarter combat technique, in which the user pushes their finger into a certain target at a very high speed, leaving a wound similar to a bullet wound, making guns unnecessary.

6. Baburu Bakuhatsu Jutsu (Bubble Explosion Technique): After Luffy blows dozens of bubbles they make their way towards opponents. Upon popping they create bright yellow and white flashes along with variously strong explosions that knock back the enemy and everything nearby. The explosions also produce a large amount of smoke, which can be used to obstruct the opponent's vision.

7. Hitsuji Gumo Tidal Wave (Sheep Cloud Tidal Wave): Kalifa generates a large amount of soap bubbles before sending them towards the enemy in the form of an enormous tidal wave.

8. Giganto Baburu Bakuhatsu Jutsu (Giant Bubble Explosion Technique): An enhanced version of the Babura Bakuhatsu Jutsu, however, instead of ordinary-sized bubbles, it creates giant-sized bubbles. These bubbles are capable of damaging Pacifista and severely wounding if not obliterating a normal human.

9. Nori Baburu Jutsu (Glue Bubble Technique): A technique where Luffy creates a super-sticky bubble and fires it at an enemy. When it hits the enemy, it envelops them in a glue-like substance that binds them to whatever location they were when the attack hit.

10. Diable Mūton Shotto (Devil Mouton Shot): One of Sanji's strongest single kicks, and a common finishing move. He starts by jumping or flipping into the air and then channels all his might into one leg to deliver a kick to the opponent's mid-section, or sometimes their head, that sends them flying.

11. Sanjūroku Pondo Hō (Phoenix of the 36 Earthly Desires): This attack uses the air itself to slash the target from a distance. To initiate it, Zoro first holds one of his swords horizontally above the shoulder of his sword arm, and then performs a circular swing that launches the air compressed projectile spiraling towards the target.

12. Coup de Vent (Wind Blow): Franky connects both of his arms together with a "T" shaped pipe then aims the remaining end of the pipe at his opponent. He then sucks massive amounts of air into his abnormally large arms (thus making them grow even larger) and when he reaches critical mass he fires a cannonball of compressed air at his opponent.

13. Fushoku-sei Gasu (Corrosive Gas): A technique that allows Luffy to create and then release an extremely corrosive gas from his mouth openings when he is in the full animal transformation of his Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit. The strength of this is enough to melt a Pacifista and everything in its path.

12. Hitsuji Gumo Waterfall (Sheep Cloud Waterfall): One of Kalifa's newest techniques. Using Geppo to get directly above her enemy Kalifa releases a large amount of bubbles onto her enemy, completely engulfing them.

**A/N: And that's Rokubi, stay tuned for Nanabi!**


	10. Reibi, Bonds of Hatred

**A/N Authors Note: Hey everyone! Sharkteeth here with a special chapter for the Reibi! I know that I'll get flames about "how the Reibi is not an actual tailed beast" but I do believe it is and my explanation for it's origon is within the chapter. Enjoy and review! **

"Someone talking."

"_Someone thinking." _

"Techniques being used."

"**Demons talking."**

**!######! **Sound effects

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: Reibi: Bonds of Hatred<p>

(Alabasta-Tomb of the Kings)

Things were not going well for Sir Crocodile of the Shichibukai, not well at all.

At the moment Crocodile was marching through the long hallways of Alabasta's royal tomb. His normally calm expression was decidingly absent as he was now boiling with rage. The source of his rage was the fact that Baroque Works, the criminal organization that he worked tirelessly creating, was being destroyed by a hidden enemy. The mere thought of the destruction of his criminal empire made him bit through his fifth cigar of the day.

It was inconceivable that someone would dare attack his organization but it was the truth. Someone was undermining Crocodile and his plans. His schemes for the desert kingdom should've gone off flawlessly but here he was, Baroque works in near ruins and he had no idea where his top agents were at. Crocodile contemplated how everything had gone so wrong so quickly but no matter how hard he tried, nothing seemed to stand out in his mind.

He doubted that he had a traitor amongst his generals. He knew that his agents couldn't be considered a loyal bunch, but he also knew that they feared him too much to go against him. Of course he had 'coerced' them to join his organization and had slowly made them believe that they wanted to help him; that his goals were their goals. In truth, it was his agents' fear of him that kept them in line, as none of them wanted to die.

And now all of it was for naught…

"Rarrgghh!" Sir Crocodile slammed his fist into the nearby wall, seething even as the massive stone wall was reduced into a large pile of sand.

Crocodile breathing was labored as he fought to reign in his rage. Normally Crocodile maintained a cool façade, even in the direst of situations, but the stress of the past couple of weeks was finally wearing away at his mind and his patience. It all started so innocently at first, a few lost members of the Billons, a ship or two gone silent, nothing truly eye catching considering what kind of place the Grand Line was.

But that all changed when he learned that he had a spy in his organization.

'_If only I had gotten rid of that blasted princess when I had the chance."_

With that thought Crocodile finally managed to get his breathing under control and resumed his trek through the tomb. As he continued walking, Crocodile's mind was inevitably drawn back to that meddling princess. A few weeks ago, Crocodile learned that the Princess of Alabasta, Nefertari Vivi, had infiltrated his organization for the sole purpose of saving her precious kingdom.

At first Crocodile had believed that the naïve girl would never been a series threat and decided to let her continue her futile struggling; but then he learned that she had found out that he was the hidden boss of Baroque Works. While disconcerting, Crocodile did not panic; instead, he sent out Mr.5 and Miss. Valentine's Day along with the Unluckies to take care of the princess.

He never heard from them again.

After the disappearance of four of his top agents everything started to spin out of control. Reports started to flood in of Billions ships being destroyed by an unknown enemy and the businesses that helped fund his organization were being burnt to the ground in seemingly random "accidents". Before he could even attempt to find out who was behind these attacks on his organization, his other spies had alerted him to a worrying fact; Vivi had returned to Alabasta in the company of a Marine Captain by the name of Smoker and his platoon of Marines.

Deciding that it would be best to focus on only one problem, Crocodile entrusted his top agent with the mission to find out who was attacking the organization.

His "left hand" man, Mr. Rei.

Crocodile briefly glanced down at the hook that replaced his left hand as he thought about the "left hand" of his organization.

Mr. Rei was an enigma that was wrapped in mystery and deceit. Unlike his right hand agent, Miss All-Sunday, who took care of all of his personal orders, Mr. Rei dealt exclusively from the shadows, handling all the work that required a certain degree of…subtlety. There was no doubt in Crocodile's mind that Mr. Rei could locate and eliminate the people responsible for the attacks on Baroque Works while he took care of his other plans.

Crocodile's musings were cut short as he finally found the room which contained the object that he had be desperately searching for many months, the Poneglyph. Crocodile paused just short of the doorway and took a quick scan of the room, idly noting that Miss All-Sunday was already in the room along with King Cobra. Then his eye's landed on the Poneglyph in the center of the room.

"So this is the Poneglyph of Alabasta…?" Crocodile said as he walked into the room with his usual slow gait. As he stepped into the room, Crocodile took a closer looked at the large stone block in the room with a greedy glint in his eyes. It didn't seem all that special at first glance but looking at it now, there was a sense of enduring strength around it.

A strength that would soon be his.

"So…" Crocodile began as he looked at the strange letters that were inscribed on the glyph. "Can you read it Miss. All-Sunday?"

Robin briefly glanced at Crocodile before she returned her attention back to the Poneglyph. "Yes…"

"Read it out loud then," Crocodile said, already thinking on how to use Pluton to his advantage. "The True History..."

Robin then walked up to the stone cube and started to run her fingers over the ancient letters that were etched into it. After a bit of time spent deciphering the ancient letters she began to speak.

"In the year 239 Goxilla conquered all of the tribes and built this kingdom. In the year 269 the Dima family is the strongest tribe in the great desert. During the year 306, Arimar completed the Fuda Holy Temple…."

"What the hell is this?!" Crocodile roared, cutting Robin off. "I don't give a damn about this country's history! All I want to know is if Pluton is buried here!"

Robin looked Crocodile dead in the eye and spoke in a flat tone. "There's nothing like that here. It's just history."

Before Crocodile could even respond to Robin's answer, a low, smooth voice echoed from the hallway where he had just entered from.

"Now, now Robin…you know it's terribly impolite to lie to our 'Boss' like that."

A form exited from the shadows and stepped into the light of the torches that illuminated the room, revealing it to be a tall man who was carrying a large bulging sack. Most of the man's body was covered in a long black cloak but from the subtle clinking sounds that he made whenever he moved it was clear that the man was wearing armor beneath the cloak. The man wore a pair of open toed sandals, an oddity considering that they were in the desert, and black fingerless gloves. Finally, as his most distinguishing features, the man wore a white Noh mask that hid his face and an old Straw hat that covered his dark hair.

"Mr. Rei…" Crocodile began to say with confusion and anger still in his voice. "What are you doing here? I already gave you a mission."

Rei seemed to ignore Crocodile's question and walked up to the Poneglyph, dropping the sack that he was carrying onto the ground a she did so. The man clasped Robin's shoulder for a moment, as she gave a small smile to Rei in response, before he returned his attention back to the large stone block. Rei's eyes, hidden behind his mask, began to trace over the etchings that were inscribed on it and began to speak in a low tone.

"For those whose desire to seek the truth of the world, find the Ten Keys of the Demon. Contained within the Ten Keys the power of human sacrifice awaits for those who seek the truth. When all ten keys are gathered the door to the past opens and the true history shall be revealed."

With that, Rei turned his head to Crocodile and spoke, amusement clear in his voice. "Well, there's more on the Poneglyph but that's the gist of it, more or less."

Crocodile confusion was starting to give way to an even deeper level of anger. The whole situation didn't make any sense at all. First off Miss All-Sunday, who is supposedly the only person in all of the four seas who can read the ancient texts, says that the there was only the history of the country written on the stone block. But then Mr. Rei, who was supposed to be finding out who was threatening the organization, appears and starts reading the Poneglyph, all the while spouting off a completely different message. The situation was spiraling out of his control and Crocodile did not like it one bit.

"Mr. Rei, answer my question… I already gave you a mission; did you eliminate the people who are attacking Baroque Works or not?"

While Crocodile was trying to decipher the mystery of what was happening, Cobra was staring at Rei with widened eyes.

'_It's him…' _Cobra thought as he took in the young man's dark form. _'The young man who told me about Baroque Works, but… he works for Crocodile?'_

Cobra instantly remembered the night that he first laid eyes on the mysterious man; it was also the night that he learned of Baroque Works.

XXXXXXXXXXX

(-Flashback-Alabasta Throne Room; Two Years Ago-)

Within the palace of Alubarna, the capital city of Alabasta, King Cobra was looking over some reports that he had just received from his soldiers at Nanohana. He had only gotten through the first few pages of the report and already it did not look good. From what the reports indicated, a large amount of Dance Powder had been smuggled into the country; and for a country that was a year into a drought, the possession of Dance Powder was a capital offense. While finding the Powder before it could've been used was a definite good thing, it was what happened afterwards that had the King of Alabasta worrying.

Apparently when they were caught, the smugglers had shouted in front of the entire town of Nanohana that they were acting under his direct orders. A lie of course, but after a year of no rain fall a seed of hatred had been sown into his people's hearts.

Sighing heavily, Cobra rose from his throne and walked to one of the many windows that lined his throne room. Looking out of the window Cobra took in the sight of Alubarna as the stars and moon illuminated the streets below. Such a sight would've normally warmed his heart, but tonight it only increased the fear that he held for his country's future.

"What is happening to my country?" Cobra asked himself as he stared out the window.

"Well I can answer that myself your majesty."

Cobra spun around at the unfamiliar voice and found himself staring into the blank eyes of a Noh mask. Leaping away from the mysterious figure, Cobra finally got a good look at the man who had sneaked into the most secure place of his palace. Even in the light of the full moon Cobra had some difficulty in seeing the full form of the figure, but he could clearly see the Noh mask and the Straw Hat on his head.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Cobra demanded as he subtly started to inch his way to the door to the hallway.

The figure then held his hands up in a peaceful manner as he began to walk towards the suspicious king.

"Now, now your majesty I'm just a concerned citizen that's here to help." The man said in a surprisingly young voice. "And as to how I got in here… I walked in through the front door…"

Cobra was now sure that this young man, who was barely older than his daughter Vivi if the boy's voice was anything to go by, was extremely dangerous. Cobra sent a subtle look to the doors of his throne room, wondering why the guards had not burst in at the sound of the intruder's voice. Cobra's attention was again brought back to the mysterious young man as he started to talk once more.

"Oh and if you're wondering what happened to your guards…" The masked youth then reached behind his back and threw something at Cobra's feet. Looking down at the object, Cobra felt his eyes widen at what it was, a bloody and dented guard helmet. "They're currently indisposed of right now."

Cobra knew that his guards were dead and that he may very well be next. So with no other choice, Cobra drew the hidden knife that he always kept on him and charged at the masked youth. The young man made no move to show that Cobra's attack worried him; in fact he kept his hands raised in the air.

"Kage Shishi (Shadow Limb)"

As Cobra drew closer to the mysterious individual dozens of pale, transparent hands formed shot out from the shadows that clinged to the masked man and shot out towards Cobra.

'_He's a fruit user!' _Cobra thought as the hands grabbed him and prevented him from moving a single muscle.

"Now, now your majesty that's not nice." The young man said as he walked closer to the bound king. He then bent down a bit to scoop up the helmet that he had thrown earlier.

"Besides…" the young man said as he turned the helmet so Cobra could look inside of it. There, right at the base of the back of the helmet, were the initials "BW". "They weren't very loyal to you."

Cobra stared at the initials that were inscribed on his guard's helmet for a few seconds before he returned his attention back to the younger masked man. Cobra's expression quickly morphed into a more professional one as he looked into the narrow slits of the man's Noh mask.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The painted smile on the mask seemed to become more sinister in the shadows of the moonlight. "Well your majesty, who I am doesn't matter, its how I can help you save your kingdom that you should wonder about…"

XXXXXXXXXXX

(-Flashback End-)

Cobra was brought out of his musings at the sound of Rei's voice as he continued to talk to Crocodile.

"Well 'Boss'…" Rei began as his voice slowly began to take on a mocking tone. "It would be hard to eliminate Baroque Work's hidden enemy…"

As quick as a striking snake, Rei kicked the sack that he had been carrying into the air, allowing its contents to spill out for all to see. Dozens of pieces of cloth fluttered around in the air as Crocodile's eyes lit up with rage and confusion as he saw what was on the pieces of cloth. Each was inscribed with the initials of B.W. and each covered in splotches of blood.

"Because, that would go against my plan!" Rei shouted out in mad glee as his plan was revealed.

"Rei…YOU'RE BEHIND THIS!?" Crocodile screamed out in anger at one of his top agent's betrayal.

"That's right 'Boss'" Rei said as he stepped on a Baroque Works flag. "And now that you've outlived your usefulness Crocodile, it's time for you to go."

With that, four large, transparent snake-like creatures shot out from the darkness of the passage way behind Crocodile. Each creature bit down on one of Crocodile's limbs and to his shock, he couldn't transform them into sand. The creatures then lifted Crocodile off the ground and pulled him into the hallway with Rei straight on their heels.

XXXXXXXX

(Tomb of the Kings)

Crocodile stood in the middle of the Tomb, his breathing was slightly heavier as he tried to predict where his enemy was.

Once he had been pulled out of the Crocodile wordlessly dispatched the four serpents that held his limbs in place with a quick slash of Haki infused sand. A skill that he had loathed to use in such a simple place as the "Paradise" portion of the Grand line but he knew what the wraith-like snakes were and who they belonged to.

"I can assume that your apart of Agent Rei's little takeover plan aren't you…Miss. Halloween!?"

"Damn, so the shit-head finally caught on did he?" A bored voice said from a behind one of the pillars in the room.

From the shadows of the tomb an odd looking woman emerged. The woman honestly looked like a demon of some sort. The woman wore a plain grey tunic and black pants and her skin was a deep brown color. She had long red hair that ran past her shoulders and three large boney horns that grew from the top of her head. To complete her demonic appearance, both of the woman's eyes were an unnatural shade of yellow and black.

The woman was none other than Uzumaki Tayuya wielder of the Akuma Akuma No Mi: Model Siren, otherwise known as Miss. Halloween and the partner of Agent Rei.

"It took you long enough to figure it out..." Tayuya said as she idly twirled a flute in her hand. "I thought that you would've wised up after I sunk that the third warship of yours…heh, I guess I gave a shithead like you too much credit."

Crocodile didn't bother with replying to Tayuya's insults, as he sent a blade of sand at the traitor to his organization. Tayuya looked at the incoming wave of sand without a bit of fear in her eyes as she lifted her flute to her mouth and played a quick note on it.

Crocodile didn't deem to respond to Miss Halloween's insults but to send a large wave of sand at the woman. Said woman looked at the wave without an ounce of fear, merely lifting her flute to her mouth before she began to play.

"RAGGH!"

From the shadows of the ceiling came a large, ogre-like creature that leapt in-between Tayuya and Crocodile's attack. The ogre attempted to block the attack within its arms but that proved to be fatal as it quickly dried up as the moisture in its body was absorbed by the sand. Miss Halloween clicked her tongue in annoyance before the creature disappeared in a cloud of white smoke before its body could be completely destroyed.

Crocodile wasted no time as he launched over a dozen of small, sharp blades at the woman in an attempt to shred her to pieces. His attack went wide however as Rei appeared behind him, and landed a brutal straight kick at the older man's back, surprising him as he was sent flying by the strong kick from Rei.

_'That shouldn't have been possible!' __Crocodile thought as he crashed through the walls and pillars of the tomb._

Once Crocodile was out of the room, Rei vanished once more to reappear next to Tayuya. Tayuya glanced at her partner before she looked to where Crocodile was sent flying with a bored look in her eyes.

"What took you so long you lunk-head? You get lost on the way here?" Tayuya said.

"Tayu-chan how you wound me so…" Rei said in a mock hurt tone," Have you taken care of the bomb yet?"

Miss. Halloween responded by smacking him against the head with her flute. " Luffy-BAKA! How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that shitty nickname you came up with?!" She whacked him a couple more times before stopping as her temper cooled. "And, yes, I did take care of the bomb. Had to get rid of a couple of frogs though."

Rei, or Luffy, stopped rubbing the back of his injured head and laughed. "Shishishishishishishi... I knew that the plans Crocodile came up with would be easy to derail, but I never thought it would be _this_ easy."

His laughter was cut off as the area around them to begin to shake. Bits of the ceiling cracked and crumbled, allowing in an ever-increasing amount of sand to begin to pour into the room. In the distance, Crocodile was slowly getting back up, glaring bloody murder at Rei and Tayuya as the sand danced around him.

"Looks like the "boss" isn't playing around anymore." Rei chuckled before he turned towards his companion, "You can head out now. While I appreciate that you came, I can take care of the "boss" myself."

"Finally…" Miss Halloween said as she summoned up three more ogre-like creatures. "I thought that we would never kill that shit-head." She then jumped on one of her ogres' shoulders and turned to look down at Rei. "I'll do my part to take down that walking man-purse so you better not mess up or else!"

With that, Tayuya blew a quick note through her flute which made her ogres jump into the upper areas of the Tomb of the Kings. Seeing his partner take off further into the building, Luffy couldn't help but release a quick chuckle.

"Ahh that Tayu-chan, so full of spunk, she is right though…" Luffy then looked down at his body, as if examining himself. "Though I suppose I should get into my proper 'attire' for croc hunting, after all it is dangerous to underestimate a cornered animal."

Luffy then stepped back into the shadows of the pillars until only his white Noh mask was visible. The mask began to twitch and thrash about violently until it now hovered a good dozen feet off the ground. A voice then seemed to come from the Noh's mask; it was deep and seemed to echo even in the tight confines of the tomb.

**"Shishishishi, it's time to end this charade once and for all."**

XXXXXXXXXXX

(Crocodile's POV)

Crocodile lurched out of the rubble that he found himself in after being hit from Rei's surprise attack. Every surface that he touched was instantly reduced to sand as his anger became even greater. The mere fact that Rei's attack actually connected with him without the use of any liquids could only mean one thing; Rei knew the ways of Haki. That made his former left-hand even more dangerous since he could nullify his fruit defense.

'_How could I have not known about this?' _Crocodile thought as the sand around him started to float into the air. _'I've been watching him ever since he joined Baroque Works…when could he have learned it? Before he joined us?'_

Before Crocodile think any further, dozens of pale translucent hands seemed to form from the shadows of the tomb and flew towards Crocodile. The traitorous Shichibukai morphed into a cloud of sand and flew in between the fingers of the hands before reforming back into the upper body in the air above them.

"Desert la Spada!" 

Six gigantic swords made of Haki infused sand appeared in mid-air before reducing the spectral hands to shreds. Crocodile reformed the lower half of his body the lightly landed on the ground as he looked around for the owner of the attack.

"WHERE ARE YOU REI?!"

"**I'm right here Crocodile" **A smooth and dark voice whispered into his ear.

Crocodile didn't have enough time to think as he was once again sent flying through the air as a large object smashed into his back. Crocodile dissolved into sand just as his body hit a stone pillar, dispersing it into a cloud of sand. The cloud flew around in the air for a bit, dodging the ghostly hands that tried to swat it out of the air, before it reformed back into Crocodile a few dozen feet away.

"**Aww…" **The same dark voice said as a large creature lowered itself from the shadows of the ceiling. **"I missed…"**

Never in Crocodile's entire life had he ever seen such a creature before. It looked like a giant leach but its skin resembled old spilt blood, both in color and texture. It also had a main of hair composed of five long streaks of crimson-red hair. But on top of the beast's face was an object that was frighteningly familiar to Crocodile; it was Rei's mask.

"Rei…?"

"**Please Crocodile, I think that we're past titles now…" **The leach, Rei, said as it slithered around a couple of pillars. **"Call me Luffy, for it will be the last name that you'll hear!"**

With that proclamation Luffy's body created another dozen Shadow Limbs and sent them hurtling towards Crocodile. Crocodile sent out a wave of sand towards the spectral hands which collided with Luffy's attack, destroying them both. Crocodile whipped his attention back to Luffy, only to find that his traitorous subordinate was already gone. Crocodile barely had any time to think when a large red shot out from the shadows of the tomb and latched onto his leg.

Crocodile attempted to turn his leg into sand but was shocked to find that he could not do so. Before he could try and cut the limb, Crocodile was yanked off his feet and into the air. Luffy emerged from the shadows as a grinning mouth full of ivory molars formed just below the Noh mask. Another red limb sprouted from Luffy's body before he released Crocodile's leg and delivered a devastating punch straight to his mid-section.

Crocodile went flying through the air and crashed into the stone walls of the tomb, causing him to cough up a bit of blood.

"_What kind of beast is he…?" _Crocodile thought as he tried to make sense of what he was fighting against. It made no sense, even without the use of Haki, Rei was still able to hurt him with his normal attacks. That alone made no sense whatsoever since the only way he could've done it was with the use of a liquid but Crocodile was sure that Luffy never used anything on those limbs of his.

"Tell me 'Luffy"…" Crocodile said as he sent a wave of 'at the mysterious creature that was once his top assassin. "You're using a mythical logia fruit aren't you?

"**Shishishi, you got it in one Crocodile…" **Luffy said as he shot around the tornado of sand. **"Allow me to tell you a story... A long time ago, when all of the world's land was still formed a single continent, there was a beast unlike any other..."**

Luffy then attempted to crush Crocodile with a wall of both his Shadow Limbs and his own arms. Crocodile dodged the attack by turning into sand and flying in-between the individual punches. As Crocodile dodged his assault, Luffy continued to tell his story as though he wasn't trying to kill the warlord.

"**The monster was a true avatar of destruction as its very presence drove people to the brink of madness and despair. Many tried to slay the beast but all fell before its might…until a lone sage faced the monster in single combat. After a mighty battle it was the sage that emerged victorious over the beast…but this victory was not without its consequences…"**

Crocodile reformed himself right above Luffy's leach-like body and attempted to grab onto his back with his hand. If Crocodile could grab onto Luffy's leach-like body then he could drain all the liquid out of his body. Before Crocodile could grab onto Luffy, he twisted his body out of the way out of the way of the grapple and hit his opponent with a vicious backhand.

"**The blood of the beast that was spilt in the battle absorbed the monster's hatred and ager and gained new life! The blood became a living creature that fed on the hatred and misery in human hearts and I am that creature, the Reibi!"**

"As fascinating as that bed time story was…" Crocodile said as he pushed himself glared up at the Noh mask that served as Luffy's face. "What does any of it have to do with this fight?"

While Crocodile glared at Luffy he made sure to keep his right hand planted firmly on the ground. When Crocodile had been sent flying into the wall, he knew that he would d need something stronger. Making sure that the palm of his hand was out of Luffy's line of sight, Crocodile slowly sent his sand throughout the corners of the tomb. If he could establish control over the natural sand of the tomb by spreading his own sand throughout it then he could still win this fight. But this ability took time to use, time that he did not have.

'_That's right keep talking…" _Crocodile thought as he asked Luffy another question. _'Keep talking in that smug tone of yours and pretty soon…'_

"**I'll crush that Noh mask of his into dust."**

Crocodile froze when Luffy spoke, as the shock of what he heard had literally stunned him into a stupor.

'_Wha-what?! How did he know what I was thinking? N-no don't think like that, it has to be a trick of some kind. He's just…'_

"**Trying to trick me! There's no way he could read my mind."**

Luffy merely laughed at the shocked expression on Crocodile's face. "**Shishishishi, that's right Crocodile, you've been running around in the palm of my hand since the very beginning. All of your plans, your desires, and even your true name were laid bare before me. The only reason why you were allowed to get this far with your schemes was because they helped my own goals."**

Crocodile couldn't even speak after all, how could he after such a shattering revelation? Had he really underestimated the situation that much, to not know when he was being manipulated? He should've been the hidden boss behind the scenes but it seemed as if he was a patsy in his own subordinate's schemes.

That's when he heard the sound of a flute being played.

All of a sudden, the world around Crocodile started to melt and spin around him as if he was looking through the ripples of water. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, both of Crocodile's arms snapped up so they were stretched out from his body. Crocodile tried to regain control of his limbs but no matter what he did his limbs would not respond to his commands.

No…

Not just his arms but to Crocodile's shock he couldn't move any part of his body. He instantly attempted to turn into sand and get out of whatever was causing this phenomenon. After a few moments of nothing happening, Crocodile's eyes widened when he realized that he couldn't change his flesh and blood body into sand.

"W-what is this?!" Crocodile yelled as the world around him continued to melt and spin.

Then, as suddenly as it started, the world stopped melting and ever snapped back into place. Only the world around him was different then how he remembered it. Crocodile no longer found himself in a tomb, but now he was in a wasteland of some sort. As far as his eyes could see, Crocodile saw nothing but an endless forest of spears that were impaled into the blood red ground. The sound of the flute suddenly got louder as the familiar figure of Miss Halloween walked out of the forest of spears.

"Halloween! What is this place?!" Crocodile yelled as he attempted to stand up, only to be held down as if he was trapped by dozens of chains

Tayuya stopped playing her flute, which did not stop the eerie flute music from being played , and looked down at Crocodile's prone with a nasty smirk on her face, "Well 'boss' this is my World of Illusions. Here I control everything; the world itself reshapes itself to my will. So if I wanted to do something like this…"

Tayuya then snapped her fingers and Crocodile felt true pain. He looked towards his bound arms and was shocked when he saw that he arms were melting. Crocodile looked back up at Miss. Halloween and felt his eyes widened when he saw the ghastly form of Luffy hovering behind Miss Halloween.

"**This little game has gone on long enough Crocodile. It's time for you to join your precious Baroque Works in oblivion!" **

Dark smog began to emit from Luffy's red skin, its very presence spoke of untold levels of hatred and malice that surpassed even Crocodile's deep hatred. Just thinking of how the enemy before him had once again surpassed him made his hatred for Luffy surge, and that's when he noticed that the smog just got bigger. Before Crocodile could even consider what that could mean, Luffy's cheeks bulged as his dark tone spoke.

"**Yami No Shuraudo (Shroud of Darkness)"**

From Luffy's mouth a black wind of pure hatred bellowed out and devoured everything it touched. Crocodile could not move an inch as the wave of death washed over him submerging his entire being into a pitch black world. Bit by bit, Crocodile felt his body erode away as the whispers of loathing washed over his form. The beggar who looks up at the king's palace, the people who died of thirst as others drank to their fill, and the parents who were forced to bury their children; Crocodile felt every bit of their malicious hatred and spite as more and more of himself was swept away by the dark wind of Luffy's breath. Eventually the dark wind died down but where there was once Crocodile, Shichibukai of the marines and former leader of Baroque works, there was nothing…

Then the world shattered like glass.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Real World-Alabasta Tombs)

Luffy quickly transformed back into his human form and silently landed onto the stone floor of the tomb. He then raised his left hand upwards and pulled the Noh mask off his face, finally revealing it for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. Luffy's dark eyes snapped to the spot where Crocodile once was and, for the briefest of moments, one could see sadness and guilt as they flickered through his eyes. Luffy then started to slowly chuckle to himself, as if enjoying an inside joke that he had just recalled.

No longer in her own transformation that her Devil Fruit granted her, Tayuya looked to Luffy with an annoyed expression on her face. "What's so funny you baka?"

Luffy stopped chuckling to himself and stared down at the mask in his hands. He then smiled a small little smile as his eyes gained a very tired look in them, as though he was weary from the thoughts that weighed upon them.

"I was just marveling how easy it is to act like a monster…" Luffy said before lifting the mask into the air, towards his face. "When I cover my face with this mask…" He drew the mask down, "Although, I did create this mask myself from my flesh after all."

Luffy then crushed the mask with his hand but, instead of shattering into pieces, the mask burst into a reddish-brown liquid that was quickly absorbed into his skinTayuya looked at Luffy for a few seconds with a soft look in her eyes….

**!BANG!**

"OW!" Luffy yelled as he rubbed the spot where Tayuya had smacked him in the head with her battle flute.

"Don't you dare to be going soft on me Monkey D. Luffy! You shouldn't feel bad about putting shit-head's like him down. He was already starting this Project Utopia plot when we joined Baroque Works and if we hadn't had steered it in the direction that we did, then a lot more people would've died." Tayuya said, holding her flute in a ready position to smack him again should he try to talk back to her.

When no such response came, Tayuya looked at him for a moment before turning around with a huff. She then began to walk back into the Poneglyph chamber, muttering something about stupid idiots and their damn mood swings.

Luffy stopped rubbing the back of his head before he followed Tayuya. _'Shishishishishi...'_ He thought to himself with a smile on his face. _'I wonder when Tayuya-chan will realize that she just called me by my real name.'_

XXXXXXXXX

(Poneglyph Chamber)

Luffy entered the Poneglyph with a slight spring in his step and a grin on his face. After Tayuya had bashed him on the head, he managed to get his own personal demons back under control so he was in a much better mood. After all, the culmination of three years' worth of planning was finally about to pay off so why wouldn't Luffy be happy?

Luffy noticed that Tayuya was now next to Robin and was telling the black-haired woman about how he was too "chicken" to fight Crocodile by himself and that he had needed her help to finish the 'walking handbag' off. Robin seemed to be listening to Tayuya but Luffy could tell that her attention was on him the instant that he walked into the room.

Nico Robin was something of a recent addition to Luffy's band of companions alongside several other former Baroque Works agents that he had managed to convince to join him. It had been hard to make Robin believe that his intentions were good and that he didn't plan to betray her, like so many others had in the past, but... he had persisted and eventually Robin had begun to believe him. It also helped that he too knew how to read the ancient language of the Void Era, to show that he wasn't working for the World Government since they would execute him for possessing 'forbidden knowledge'. From that point on, she had become a welcome addition to his nakama.

On the other side of the room, Cobra was looking at Luffy with no small amount of wonder in his eyes. He was probably marveling about how he took down one of the seven Shichibukai and come out relatively unharmed. Of course, lying below the wonder, Luffy could see a healthy amount of distrust was bubbling beneath the surface, no doubt wondering what Luffy would do now that he toppled his former boss.

Luffy grinned wider for a bit before he performed a mock-bow in front of the injured king. "Don't worry, your Majesty: Crocodile is quite dead and your kingdom is safe. Your daughter and her Marine friends are cleaning up the last remnants of Baroque Works and the rebellion is winding down. By tomorrow morning the newspapers should also get a 'package' that details all the crimes that Crocodile has done to your kingdom."

The king's shoulders sagged for a bit at hearing what Luffy had just said to him. Not from weariness though, oh no, to Cobra hearing that his daughter and country would be fine seemed to lift a great weight from his shoulders. And, oddly enough, it seemed as if he owed the young man in front of him a debt for killing Crocodile and saving his life.

Before Cobra could say anything, Luffy spun around and started to walk towards the Poneglyph. "Of course there is the matter about payment for services rendered…" Luffy began as he walked up to the Poneglyph and looked up at the symbols carved in its side. "Yes, this will do nicely."

Luffy then raised a single finger as a pale blue flame of energy ignited at its tip. He then started to trace the symbols on the Poneglyph in a seemingly random order, but each ancient letter lit up with the same blue energy that Luffy was producing. Eventually Luffy traced one final letter on the stone block and took a step back from the Poneglyph. The lit letters started too slowly plus with the strange energy before all the other symbols on the Poneglyph lit up with an intensity that forced Cobra to look away from it. Tayuya looked on at the scene with some mild amount of interest, since she had seen something similar to this before. Robin on the other hand was staring at the Poneglyph with no small amount of wonder in her normal stoic eyes. Even she, who had dedicated her entire life into researching into the void century, had no idea on what she was seeing.

"It's quite amazing really, the ingenuity of the Ancients…" Luffy said to no one as he stared straight at the glowing Poneglyph without flinching. "To make sure that their secrets would reach a new generation, they sealed clues within indestructible chests that would ensure that they would survive. Of course you need the power of the Void Century to open the chests…"

Then a sound like heavy stones scrapping across each other was heard as the massive stone cube seemed to shift, for lack of a better word, until a hollow space within the Poneglyph was revealed. Resting within that hollow space of the block was a single book. The book itself was completely unremarkable looking, bound in simple leather that was dyed a light green. It didn't even have a title, only the symbol of an hourglass adorned its cover.

Luffy, ever so gently, picked the book up the book and started to flip through its pages. After a few seconds Luffy shut the book and stared at the hourglass symbol with a smile on his face.

"The journal of the Wind Shadows… a tome of untold knowledge for those who seek the True History." He then slipped the journal into the sleeves of his robes and walked over to Robin and Tayuya. "And did we get our other prize Robin?"

Robin smiled and pulled a piece of fruit from one of her pockets. The fruit was strange to say the least. It resembled a spikey melon, like the ones that were more commonly found in certain areas of the desert, but it was different at the same time. The fruit was covered in swirl marks that ended in the spikes that lined its surface and its stem had more curl then a normal fruit. This fruit was none other than the Suna Suna no Mi.

"I must admit Luffy-san; I had some doubts about when you told me to keep this desert melon I did think that you were playing with me but when it turned into Sir Crocodile's devil fruit I can see that my worries were unfounded." Robin said in her usual tone of voice as she handed the Suna Suna no Mi to Luffy.

"You've been planning this out from the beginning haven't you?" Robin asked with a hint of mirth in her voice.

Luffy grinned widely at her question, showing off all of his teeth in a gigawat smile. "Shishishi, Robin you give me too much credit. So shall we be off then? The others should be waiting for us by now."

With that Luffy turned back to Cobra and gave the King one last mock bow. "Well your majesty, I believe it's time for me and my crew to depart from your land. So without further ado…Goodbye."

With that Luffy threw a small ball onto the ground which released a thick cloud of smoke, obscuring him and his two partners from view. Once the smoke was cleared, Cobra could see that the three were gone and the Poneglyph was back into its original condition. Unexpectedly, cobra began to chuckle to himself as he got to his feet and started to shamble to the exit of the tomb.

"Reibi no Luffy…I wonder how far you'll go for the truth?"

* * *

><p><span>Techniques:<span>

Kage Shishi (Shadow Limb): On of Luffy's moset used techniques, both in and out of his Reibi form, this ability generates a ssemingly infinite amount of "shadow limbs" that can be controlled with a single thought from Luffy.

Desert La Spada: An altered version of Desert Spada. Crocodile now forms several solid blades with fan-shaped edges instead of one large blade made from sand. This is the only time Crocodile has formed solid objects out of sand, although a sufficiently powerful blow will shatter it back into sand.

**A/N: And that's Reibi! Remember leave a review on the way out or Sniper Kitty will get you.**


	11. SOPA's BACK!

Hey everyone, Sharkteeth here first off sorry for the hiatus but i needed to concentrate on college for a bit but that's not important. SOPA'S BACK!

**this is something you need to hear**

**A message from dracohalo117 and Leaf Ranger...SOPA is back, that is right people, the bill that is threatening to take away our freedoms on the internet and beyond is BACK, and not only is it back, but it is trying to be passed quietly so nobody notices, SOPA will guarantee that anybody who streams a video, whether it be on youtube, a walkthrough for avideo game, or a kid singing a song that is 'copyrighted' they will be treated as a felon, that is right, a FELON, do you understand me? YOU will be treated like the highest form of criminal for uploading a video game walkthrough on youtube, for singing a song on karaoke, hell, you could be arrested and treated as a felon for posting a screenshot...**

**Now, why am I telling you this? Because this is only just the beginning, how long untilFanfictionis being attacked, how long until a fanfiction writer is being carted off to a maximum state prison for writing a character from Naruto into their fanfic, or a character from Bleach, or a character fro Sekirei or Seikon no Qwaser, Highschool DxD,Trinity Blood, Witchblade, how long until THAT crap is happening? I assure you that if this passes, it will not be long, oh no, it will not be long at all, because once this passes, then ANYTHING goes, Fanfiction will be attacked for using canon characters in a fanon manner, authors will be arrested for writing a book whose main character has glasses, just like in another series, artists will be arrested and confined for using sapphire blue in the iris of one of their characters like another author. We CANNOT let this happen!**

**Don't believe us? Look at the links below, remove the spaces, see for yourself, and please, PLEASE spread the word and fight this assault on our freedoms, because this isn't just going to affect americans, oh no, it will affect EVERYBODY across the globe!**

**: / www . huffingtonpost 2013/08/07/unauthorized-streaming-felony_n_3720479 . html**

**: / www . washingtonpost blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/05/sopa-died-in-2012-b ut-obama-administration-wants-to-revive-part-of-it /**

**: / www . techdirt articles/20130805/12472124074/administration-cant- let-go-wants-to-bring-back-felony-streaming-provis ions-sopa . shtml**

**and the video which caused us to find out about this horrible thing...remove the spaces, and spread the word...**

**: / www . youtube watch?v=1fTt4K4Cae4**

**Take care and spread the word, or we will lose out freedoms to express ourselves on the Internet! Repost it on your stories, forums, blogs, anywhere! JUST MAKE IT KNOW! WE HAVE TO STOP THIS!**

**Pass this message on! DO your part and help protect the freedom of the internet!**


End file.
